March/April 2003

Broadband Internet access will give a major boost to online shopping - and hence to the e-fulfilment market. That prospect, long argued by e.logistics magazine, is underlined in a series of new reports from Forrester Research, which says retailers will need to respond to the trend or else be left behind.

In the light of studies in the US, where broadband access has reached 19 million households, Forrester says 20 per cent of consumers who have signed up for it in the past year have been spending more online than before. And nearly half of consumers who have had broadband for two or three years (48 per cent) say they are spending more online now.

While the UK is lagging behind the US in broadband take-up, the user base has surged massively since BT's aggressive assault on the market began last year, and is expected to reach 2 million by this summer. The figure is already over 1.5 million, according to Government statistics, and is growing at the rate of 32,000 connections a week.

Broadband's quick page loads and instant access mean that consumers spend more time than before online, Forrester says, and that in turn means they spend more time researching products and spend more money online.

Research-intensive products such as consumer electronics and computer hardware and software benefit the most from broadband, according to the Forrester research. Consumers also say they buy more products such as music because broadband makes it easier to sample tracks before purchasing a CD online.

Forrester argues that to capitalise on the fast browsing offered by broadband, retailers need to offer more sophisticated research tools and online help. It thinks apparel companies will follow Lands' End's lead and offer live online chat with a customer service representative.

Just 13 per cent of the top 100 retailers currently let consumers check to see if a product is available in-store before they head to the shops, Forrester says, but broadband will intensify the need for this service. In the future, large retailers will also need to offer this feature.