How Technology Has Helped Online Shopping
Technology has played a crucial role in the growth of online catalogue shopping. Faster internet connections have enabled all online companies to present hundreds of products to hungry customers in a way never seen before with slower dial up connections. In the past it was very difficult to have video and pictures on the same web page without slowing the load speed dramatically. This turned away many potential visitors who were just not prepared to wait to see things appear.
For the catalogue companies this was a severe handicap because their business relied on presenting many products in the same place. For this reason many were slow to move their operations to the internet. They still made decent profits from paper copy catalogues delivered to homes and ordered through telephone lines. The ones who did venture online had to tone down the web site, and keep the pictures to a minimum.
Then broadband came on the scene and it changed everything in a very short space of time. Now the catalogues could show all the pictures they wanted, and get their goods directly in front of their visitors without the fear of them having to wait for pages to load up. If you look at the catalogue web sites today you are met with huge interactive banners and videos of products, and every single sale item has a wealth of very detailed pictures.
It is no coincidence that online sales have rocketed in the last few years. It is all down to broadband and speed. It is now possible to browse through hundreds of pages in minutes, and people like this a lot. Interactive features also help in the selling process; it makes people feel a part of the web site. In fact it not just pretty pictures that help sell things, nowadays you have virtual rooms and planners that allow you to plan a room and its contents without actually having to go to the store. Colour schemes can be planned as well, and every small detail can be brought out to inspect at will.
Other interactive features such as comparison charts, buying by price, size or brand from a simple to use search box speeds things up even more. Modern society revolves at a fast pace, and the internet has followed suit. In the future it will be even faster, and this will increase sales and profits for those companies who take advantage of the latest technology, and most importantly, keep the customer happy.