3 Ways Shopping Online is Changing … and Why Retailers Need to Keep Up

Online shopping is expected to reach the $300 billion mark in the U.S. by 2015, which is up from only $93 billion just 10 years ago. Retailers need to keep up with consumers’ ever-changing needs when it comes to shopping and making purchase decisions online. Here are three of the most critical ways online shopping is changing:

1. Consumers are bringing more of the decision process online. Originally online retailers built technology to support consumers that already knew what they wanted. Today's consumers are bringing more of the decision process online, looking for inspiration and advice from different channels and sources.

Think of Amazon.com. If you know what product you want, you do a product search and Amazon returns the product, price and shipping options. With one-click ordering, you're in and out with a couple of keystrokes and clicks. It's fast and efficient when you already know what you want.

But what if you don't yet know what you want?

In the past there weren't many options other than doing a general Google search. But knowing what information is viable and trustworthy is difficult, so you resorted to asking friends and family or a sales associate in-store for help. This decision process is moving online, and the amount of information out there to assist in that decision is numerous and fragmented all across the internet.

2. Consumers are blurring offline and online when making purchase decisions. There's always been a clear line between online and offline shopping. Consumers today expect to move seamlessly between online and offline and from mobile to desktop device.

Think of the consumer that gets inspired after seeing an outdoor patio set at a brick-and-mortar store. It gets them thinking; maybe they take a picture of the patio set and text it to their significant other. They go home, talk to their spouse, look at their current patio set and realize it's time for a change. They go online to get more ideas, inspiration, check out reviews, etc. They ask close friends or family for their opinion. They head back to the store to look at options and get feedback and advice from the store's sales associate. When they're confident with their decision, they'll research where they can find the best deal — in-store or online — and ultimately make the purchase.

3. Consumers are looking for ways to collaborate across these channels with a trusted circle (of friends, family, experts and brands). When users find ways to "hack" existing tools and technologies to meet their needs, it's clear that it's time for a change. We're seeing that today with e-commerce. Consumers are using shopping carts to save things they're still considering.

Therefore, 60 percent of shopping carts are abandoned and 56 percent of shoppers say it's because they weren't ready to purchase and wanted to save the product for later. Consumers are cutting, pasting and sharing links in text messages, emails and chats when looking for feedback. Sixty-nine percent of shoppers claim they first look to friends and family for advice on what to buy.

The shopper is looking to collaborate when making shopping decisions, whether that be online or offline or on whatever device they may be using. They want to consume information and become knowledgeable on their own, but they need collaboration to make a decision. Consumers want to feel confident they're making the right decision with the right information and getting suggestions and feedback from the right people at the right time.

Alex Gonzalez is CEO and co-founder of Chatalog, an online social shopping platform.