“When in Rome, do as the Romans do!” You’ve heard that expression haven’t you? What does that even mean?

In a nutshell it is actually a compliment of sorts. You basically are demonstrating that you picked up on a custom and you jump in on the action. It is kind of like saying “I want to be a part of your experience. So I am sharing in your culture.”

And there are many applications of this old adage as well as some good times had when we apply it. Practically speaking we sometimes pick up on these idiosyncrasies because it is perceived as appealing or perhaps successful and/or beneficial. Sometimes a practice or custom that started in one region can even spread abroad and become universally embraced.

This happens all the time in business. We live in a copy cat world as a matter of fact. Today we are going to consider how this has happened in the E-commerce industry.

How high is the stock now for E-commerce? Oh it’s very strong and rising. Everyone from individuals and their small web store to major retailers and manufacturers are using the Internet. Does that make it big?

Here is the skinny my web friends. In the USA a tradition started many years ago that has been dubbed Black Friday. I am sure most people have heard of it. If not, let me bring you up to speed real quick.

For many years the Christmas shopping season was considered officially started after the Thanksgiving holiday. Every year Thanksgiving is on the 4th Thursday of every November. Many retailers found that on the Friday after the Thanksgiving (the following day) was so successful that it often put there yearly sales in the black in there accounting books! Thus Black Friday marked the beginning of profit making for the commerce world. It blossomed into where stores now traditionally offer unique sales and quirky promotions to kick start the shopping season.

But again this was all predicated by a successful pattern that had been set. Well for the last 2 or 3 years the retail industry in the USA now promotes the Monday that immediately follows Thanksgiving as Cyber Monday. This means that on that Monday special “Black Friday” like promotions are featured for On -line shopping. This season many retailers turned it into a Cyber Week campaign. Honestly it appears as if they made a bigger push for the On line sales than they did for the conventional shopping.

They would not bother if they did not see the success and the potential for even more success. Yes many stores are really benefiting from On line stores. What about for the independent E-tailer?

Make no mistake about it the Indie on line store merchant is also cashing in on this trend toward more on line purchasing. In fact in some ways the Internet helps the little guy not seems as little. You aren’t Wal-Mart but when people surf the web they don’t care how big your store or warehouse is.

Plus the convenience is a major magnet to the Internet for shopping. If your bored or sick at home or taking a break at work the Internet is right there. And we all know how easy it is to type in a search for a specific item. But wait there’s more.

It is also very easy to type in for ideas or suggestions for purchases. For a wedding, party, holiday, anniversary, just for the heck of it, or a “honey I screwed up gift”. And it is so much less stress to search on-line than to be bothered by a sales person in a store.

Think about it as silly as it is many people are guilted or pressured to purchase items they can’t really afford but on line you don’t care. You don’t have to face people and feel like you have to explain why you bought the cheaper model. And travel time is cut out for the shopper!

And taking things back or returning them? No problemo. If it is chain store you can just mail it back or bring it to the local store. If it is an Indie on line store returns are all part of the gig.

So in review what do we have here? Okay I sort of went in and out of the perspective of the shopper and the merchant. However I was trying to give the 360′ degree view of the E-commerce business. The fact is the advantages for the shopper means rising stock in the E-commerce market. The more incentive the shopper has the more people will shop on line and more frequently they will do it.

And you the on line merchant, what can you do? When in Rome do as the Romans do? Learn from established on line stores and use your inner shopper to help develop some shopping incentives. Make it easy as possible and inviting for people to patronize your on line store. Don’t be intimidated by the Big Boys and Girls. Remember on line you can roar just as loud if you want to or execute a sound marketing strategy.

So by all means when selling on line do as the on line sellers do! The stock is up in the E-commerce realm and it isn’t coming down.

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