3 - The e-shopper: the growth of the informed purchaser

Summary

Summary

When the internet started to make its influence felt on the commercial world there was an adage that was quickly adopted as being ‘true’: an internet year for commercial planning purposes was seven weeks long. Therefore a traditional five-year plan would last no longer than 35 weeks. Decisions on capital investment, organizational structure, and marketing and sales plans would all have to be taken at the same pace. To miss the opportunity would have far-reaching consequences on an organization's future – possibly its existence. This is as true for e-information providers as it is for e-retailers. That speed of change provided by the internet has had a profound influence on traditional retailers. They have been stung into action by the success (and threat) of new organizations such as Amazon.com, a major information provider after all, and their influence on the ‘bricks and mortar’ shopper. Changes in consumer shopping behaviour have been swift and decisive and have altered the face of retailing (including associated information services) forever. The doom-mongers of the dot.com crash have been proved wrong. The internet is here to stay and it has changed the boundaries within which a business or organization has to operate. It would be a brave person (or fool) who believes the same will not happen in the information marketplace.

This chapter looks at the history of the development of the e-shopper – mostly in the UK – and the development of the shopper journey – their likes, dislikes, and expected standards, in order that we can better understand the information consumer. In addition, it looks at the influence that the eshopper has had on other elements of organizations and demands made on their organizational skills. It shows that the e-shopper is driving changes in markets that traditionally ran at the pace of the old five-year plans – and concludes that the e-shopper, who after all conducts a good deal of product research, will demand the same changes in other areas of internet usage, like that for scholarly information. Having an understanding of the pace of change will help information professionals understand the need for their organizational planning to increase in scope and rapidity and to embrace technological and behavioural evolution – or ignore it at their peril.