The National Retail Federation announced today that only 46.7% of US consumers had completed their Christmas shopping by the end of the second week of December, which should be of interest to anyone with an ecommerce store.

Those are the stats according to NRF’s 2009 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch.

Based on survey results, almost 42 million people, 19.1%, hadn’t even started their shopping yet as of late last week.

A mere 8.6% had completely finished their holiday shopping.

Of that minority group, people aged 65 and older had completed the most shopping, 50%, and those aged 45-54 have completed the least at 44.1%.

The survey found that only 11.9% of shoppers plan to complete their gift buying on Christmas Eve. The majority are planning to wrap up their Christmas shopping by December 19th.

During these lean times of a national recession, consumers are looking for bargains. So, discount stores can expect to see a fresh wave of shoppers this coming weekend.

Ditto for grocery stores because more people are buying food such as candy or fruit as gifts this year than last year, and buying groceries to cook meals at home during the holidays rather than eating out.

44.7% of shoppers say they are buying clothing as gifts this year. Almost 40% of shoppers are buying DVDs, books, CDs, videos and video games.

Toys account for 34.6% of sales this holiday season.  Gift cards make up 27.5%. Consumer electronic sales are about 22%.

More people are paying with checks, cash or debit cards than credit cards.

Now, about those procrastinators:

“Retailers know the final lap counts the most and are planning to emphasize promotions and discounts to bring in last-minute shoppers,” said Tracy Mullin, President and CEO, NRF. “As Christmas Day creeps closer, retailers will be ready for an influx of procrastinators, from those who are checking the final names off their list to millions who haven’t even started shopping.”

Based on survey findings, 38% of these last minute shoppers will be shopping online.

This means that if you have an online store, you need to be sure that all is in readiness for the last final surge of Christmas shoppers.

If at all possible, offer expedited shipping because time is running out on buying online and getting delivery by Santa’s big day. Also, if you aren’t already offering online gift cards and e-gift certificates, you should give this some serious consideration.

As we enter the countdown and it’s right down to the wire, having online gift certificates available or not might well make the difference between making a sale or losing it.

So, heads up, ecommerce entrepreneurs! Make routine checks to ascertain that your website is optimized and maximized to the nth degree for that horde of last minute shoppers!

eCommerce: Last Minute U.S. Christmas Shoppers On the Rise is a post from: Dropship Resource

The latest grumble on the ‘net’, concerns paypals latest move, to penalise sellers yet again!

It seems that without any prior warning, that Paypal have decide to penalise their clients, the online sellers, in respect of the funds that they take per month.

Do a quick google search on ‘Paypal Account Reserve’  and you will see countless results for yourself. What are Paypal thinking?

Quick scam to increase the funds held by paypal to appease government legislation?

Guess what! Paypal falls outside the legislation that’s applied to our high street banks.

So quick scam it is then, any move they can think of to suck client money in to earn interest?

Your comments are welcome .

Paypal Account Reserves – What do you Think ? is a post from: Dropship Resource

Here is one of the articles that we came across http://www.marketersboard.com/google-sidewiki-controversy/ 

Google’s New Sidewiki Good or Bad? is a post from: Dropship Resource

New Paypal Tools Help Prevent Shopping Cart Abandonment is a post from: Dropship Resource

Check Out Bonanzle’s New Affiliate Program! is a post from: Dropship Resource

While millions of people dream of becoming their own boss and working from the relative comfort of their own homes, the specifics of how to actually go about doing so remain a bit unclear for most. This book hopes to clear much of that up with clear, concise advice on how to set up your very own drop-ship enterprise using eBay, the world’s largest retailer.

The Internet has opened up opportunities for people of all ages, no matter where they live. Nowhere is this more apparent than on the world’s leading auction site, eBay. Not only is one able to get rid of all the junk in their attic or basement, but you are now able to become a bona-fide retailer, with eBay virtual storefronts.

Moreover, there is nothing saying that you need to make the products yourself or even send them yourself. In fact, one of the fastest growing segments of eBay sales – one that is potentially very lucrative – is facilitating sales from manufacturers and wholesalers directly to customers through dropshipping.

While all business opportunities are fraught with dangers and pitfalls, dropshipping on eBay has the advantage of being one of the few ways you can start up a profitable business without putting a large sum of money up front. In fact, since there is a short period of time where you have a buyer’s money before you actually the wholesaler or manufacturer you’re dealing with the money for the goods, the only money you’re responsible for putting up front are the modest eBay fees. For as little as $1, you can be on your way to re-selling items on eBay for profit.

Your No Money Up-front Commitment

In fact, for most people looking to start up with a lucrative home-based business, the no money up-front aspect of dropshipping is the most appealing aspect. In a traditional business, one can put up thousands of dollars before you ever see Dime One. Since your shop is a virtual one and there is no need to spend money on the physical plant, warehousing and other elements of a traditional business.

It may come as no surprise to you that it’s easy to forget your commitment to not spending money to do things the “easy” way. But, the real beauty of this process is that it isn’t really any harder to set up shop and begin selling without spending any money at all – you just need to know the tricks and that’s what this book aims to do.

For starters, you need to go into this with a plan. Sure, plenty of folks are able to stumble their way into modest eBay profits, but the eBay marketplace is a lot more crowded than it was even a few years ago. No matter the market segment you choose to focus upon, you’ll be forced to specialize in order to really stand out in an increasingly crowded virtual room.

Of course, that’s the beauty of starting up such a business, even if it is done in your spare time as a second source of income. For many, this is a good way to jump into doing something with a hobby or avocation that they really love. Indeed, this is a good way to really find out how lucrative your hobby is, might be to give it a test run with eBay dropshipping.

Dropshipping and eBay is a post from: Dropship Resource

Bing: Should You Advertise Your eCommerce Business with the New Kid on the Block? is a post from: Dropship Resource

Many people have extolled dropshipping as a way to instantly get rich. Such assertions sound unbelievable, even ridiculous. How much truth can there be to such statements? Still, let us try to assess the facts or the real nature of dropshipping. If it is not instantaneous and effortless, can we still say that it is a convenient way for small entrepreneurs to earn money?

To begin with, dropshipping drastically reduces a lot of the usual overhead costs. In some cases, it even eliminates them altogether. This is because you can distribute a lot of the financial and work load on to your suppliers, or other service providers who will help you set up shop.
Firstly, your supplier stores and ships the products for you. You do not have to worry about maintaining or housing your goods, nor about constantly having to make trips to the post office to send things.

In addition, you can-especially if you have the budget-pay for other people to set up your website. This is especially helpful for people who are not highly-trained or experienced with computers and site design. You can even hire writers to make your text or content for you. In some cases, this can be worth the effort. Writing your text is a very important part of building your site. Remember that customers care about more things than your products and prices. They also want good treatment, and to be in the hands of someone who is courteous and professional. Make sure your writing gives that kind of impression. In addition, why not use your writing as a strategy to attract visitors to your online store? You can tailor your site content so that it shows up near the top of the list of search results when prospective customers go online to find products you offer. With these kinds of services, you can experience dropshipping made easy.

Dropshipping is a great time-saver in many ways. For example, once you have found and made a deal with your supplier, you do not have to worry about securing products. Traditionally, both suppliers and smaller-scale retailers had to spend a lot of time and money traveling to trade shows, with only a small proportion of meetings ultimately being productive. With dropshipping, you can do all of the searching and negotiation online.

The net result of all these convenient processes and structures is that you will have more time and resources to devote to attracting and serving your customers, who, after all, are the backbone of your business.

Once we strip away all the exaggerations, we find that dropshipping can, indeed, make business easier for you by allowing you to save time and money on things you would otherwise have to learn and execute all by yourself. Dropshipping introduces you to a network where the participants, especially yourself, can all save time and money by working together. If all of this piques your interest, you can find out more at a great site called Drop Ship Access.

Dropshipping = Business Made Easy? is a post from: Dropship Resource

A Dropshipping Website That Talks to Your Customers? is a post from: Dropship Resource

We are pleased to announce the forthcoming launch of our new site http://www.dropshipresource.co.uk on the 1st October 2009.

This will be a unique support site for anyone involved in dropshipping activities that will offer a comprehensive directory of U.K. and overseas dropship suppliers along with a forum to exchange views and ideas with like minded dropship professionals.

Want to promote your business/web site? Get your message out there in the Press Release section on our blog, ideal for SEO backlinks.

For a limited time period will will also be offering free listings and advertising to dropship suppliers, wholesalers and associated support type businesses.

Contact Bobby on info@dropshipresource.co.uk for further information

Coming Soon! Dropship Resource is a post from: Dropship Resource