DotCom Predicts End of Global Market

Pioneering consumers were restricted to buying from a limited range of widely-scattered websites. As the supply has increased we're now seeing a strong preference by consumers to buy from locally-based websites wherever possible.

(PRWEB) June 19, 2004 -- A study by European hotel booking and review website, Skoosh, has revealed a startling new trend in online purchasing. Challenging the idea of the global market, the companys findings have identified a clear-cut link between a DotComs location and its sales.

Shortly after re-locating from London to the rural English county of Buckinghamshire, the company examined its marketing statistics and noticed a considerable shift in its client base away from London and into the local area, despite the volume of telephone sales still being very low.

Thinking this might be an anomaly, the partners ran a poll on their site, and the results corroborated their earlier findings. A surprising 17 percent of respondents said that the location of the trader was a major factor in their decision to buy, placing it above price, website usability and personal referrals. Only brand name was rated as more significant, at 29 percent.

Partner Dorian Harris explains: We found that customers who bought from us over the phone invariably pointed out that they were 'just down the road from us, so we really wanted to know how important this was to them. Once we got our survey results we realised we were onto something big."

Partner Sam Cowen has termed the finding 'The Doorstep Effect and attributes it to the massive growth in the number of DotComs in recent years. Sam explains: "In the early days of the 'net we just didnt have that much choice of who to buy from, but, now we have, it seems people want to do online as they do offline, and that means buying locally.

Dorian continues: We didnt think it would matter to our customers where we were based, so we opted for a relaxed country lifestyle and moved our business to a farm. The only change we made to our website was to drop the London call centre number in favour of a local Buckinghamshire area code. Telephone sales were, and still are, a small proportion of our business, so we didnt consider the change very significant at first."

Following their discovery, the partners at Skoosh have since sought ways of capitalising on this new trend. Dorian explains: Naturally, we didnt set up online to sell to our next door neighbours, but now weve not only prioritised marketing to our local community but we have also extended our distribution network to increase the number of companies re-selling our product within their local areas.

I firmly believe that the initial purchasing pattern which allowed merchants to sell to anyone was a short-term thing based on an eager market and a limited range of quality suppliers. From now on, Im sure well see a strong preference by consumers to buy from locally-based websites wherever possible. If this proves to be the case, we can certainly expect a lot of change in the online world, and theres plenty of evidence about to show that this already is taking place."

Dorian stresses that online traders are only just catching on to what banks and mortgage lenders have known for years. In a survey earlier this year by the British bank Lloyds TSB it was revealed that over half the population (53 per cent), would favour buying from a local business start-up over large nationwide businesses. It is also widely known that successful mortgage companies and banks have long tended to focus their marketing on the local area.

Many of the international online merchants, such as Expedia, are now capitalising on the trend by using regional domain names in preference to the generic DotCom, while offering prices in local currencies and displaying offers orientated to specific countries. Earlier this year, online search engine Google launched a new function that enabled users to limit their searches to products or services in their local area.

Although no longer an unruly adolescent, the Internet is still keeping brand and marketing managers on their toes. And it appears that the 'Doorstep Effect will prove to be yet another DotCom challenge. Dorian adds: Major Internet traders now need to work out how to offer both the assurance of a global brand and yet still appeal to local markets."

For more information on Skoosh and its services visit: www.skoosh.com

Notes for Editors:
Images are available on request.

To find out more about the company, or its booking and review services please contact Dorian Harris, Partner at Skoosh. Tel: 0845 050 2550 (from outside the UK: +44 (0) 1494 783455) or email: dorian@skoosh.com