Ellen Flood: Battles that are to come between shops and cyberspace

With 85 million visits due to online retailers daily, and some 1,000 purchases made a second – as well as huge waits in queues in our shopping centres – online retailers are now committed to snatch and grab from their high street rivals.

The level of promotions is on a par with the “panic sales” of 2008 and while this year’s promotions are largely more structured and considered, this is likely to have an impact on margins.

The effects of a combination of reduced margins and low sales came as retailers approached this Christmas more in hope than expectation, with this likely to be reflected in their next set of financial results.

A growing number of people are becoming more internet savvy on a day-by-day basis. With some 77 per cent of UK households having internet access, online shopping has seen an inordinate increase in its popularity.

It is estimated that people spent £13.5bn on shopping online this year alone. With the dawn of a new age of conversation, retailers are able to promote and develop their small businesses on a global scale and connect with a much broader audience.

It will be for the nation’s high streets to try and keep up with the use of things like QR codes; in effect encouraging people to engage within a high street environment.

With 2011 being a tough year for households across the nation, users are able to get the most out of shopping online by comparing prices of goods online. Shopping platforms make it far easier for users to find the best bargains and also recommend the best deals to their contemporaries.

Sites such as Shopow.co.uk are creating virtual high streets and form a centralised hub for users to browse through millions of products. In this day and age, when most people find it difficult to juggle a work-life balance, online shopping platforms are an ideal final destination for people with hectic lifestyles.

The online shopping phenomenon is shifting more towards a conversational, blogger-led direction. Sales are driven more through sites which are gathering followers, who trust the judgment of their peers and buy recommended products.

This new style of shopping gives power back to the consumers by generating conversation between users.

The peak in Christmas sales has been brought forward to this week, a whole 21 days earlier than expected. The recession and strong demand from consumers hunting for deals online has lead to an all out price war, with many high street retailers losing their nerve in light of plummeting profit margins. There is a huge concern that they will lose out on business to the online retailers as they hunt for deals.

New development in online retail conversation points its attention towards QR codes, which are similar to bar codes but serve a different purpose.

They can be scanned using apps on smart phones and will direct users towards online vouchers. They have become popular in recent times due to the reasonably fast readability and the widespread use of the smart phones. Recently retailers have started to understand the value of connecting with the masses using QR codes for promotions and deals.

Although voucher code sites have rocketed in popularity recently, it is no longer enough to secure your business by rolling out a substantial number of vouchers. People are increasingly taking recommendations from friends; be that blogs, social media networks and in person – the value of a good conversation will be increasingly measured in pounds and pence, online and perhaps more importantly, offline.

With the whole dynamic of shopping evolving; the rise of mobile shopping ensures that people can now shop for goods on the go. It seems that since a third of adults use smart phones in the UK, it’s inevitable for the world of online retailing to collide with the high street world.

People have the ability to find the cheapest prices at their fingertips, from household goods to food and drink.

It is for the high street retailers to engage with their customers in a creative and involving way in order to draw customers into the town centres, their stores busy and their tills full.

Ellen Flood is director of online social shopping site Shopow