According to a new analysis by The Boston Consulting Group, retail sales at $482 billion from research online-purchase offline (ROPO) in the United States is nearly twice that of online-only retail.
This is why more small, independent businesses must invest in an online presence as a primary marketing strategy. This is especially true of the 41% that still experiment from time to time with traditional advertising.
ROPO growth may in time make up for the fact that some online-only retailers such as Amazon.com do everything possible not to replace the local and state sales tax revenues they deplete. But because it may not be evenly distributed, ROPO growth may not guarantee the survival of local independent businesses so critical to local community sense-of-place.
The study illustrates the return-on-investment from publicly-funded research and development. Financed initially by federal government-funded research, the Internet is now 4.7% of the U.S. GDP.
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