Does The Rich Niche Twitch To A Different E-Commerce Itch? And If Ditched, Do They Switch?
October 23rd, 2008
As the U.S. economy collapses (temporarily mind you, but a collapse nonetheless) and holiday sales contract, the one segment rumored to likely fare best is merchants selling to the highly affluent. But in what could be bad news for E-Commerce, those rich niche retailers tend to resist online sales more fervently than other E-tail segments. There are many reasons for that, including the perception that their customers don't like online storefronts as well as in-store environment investments.
Simply put, retailers selling very high-priced items to a decidedly well-to-do clientele often invest much more heavily in creating a comfortable environment with an abundance of personal attention. There's a reason retailers such as Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Armani, Coach and high-end jewelers tend to be the last to embrace kiosks, mobile-commerce and online promotions. Read more...
Cards issued by European banks when used online cross border don't usually support AVS checks. So, when a European card is used with a billing address that's in the US, an ecom merchant wouldn't necessarily know that the shipping zip code doesn't match the billing code.
-Marc
