InkHead Promotional Products examines the current state of eCommerce as it relates to the promotional product and advertising specialty industry.

1. Internet Selling in the 21st Century:
Fact vs. Fiction
Prepared by Michael W. Ollinger
Digital Content Manager
InkHead Promotional Products
http://www.inkhead.com

2. Internet Selling in the 21st Century:
Fact vs. Fiction
• eCommerce facts and figures
• Going mobile
• Thinking global
• Myths on Internet selling
• Looking forward
• Panel discussion and audience Q&A

3. eCommerce Facts and Figures
• All demographics are on
the Internet, not the just
younger generations.
• People use the Internet to
research purchases,
including promotional
products.
• eCommerce sales are
growing faster than brick-
and-mortar businesses.
• eCommerce sales in the US
will top $225 billion in
2012.

4. eCommerce Facts and Figures
Not just young people are shopping online, nor
are people just making small purchases online.

5. eCommerce Facts and Figures
A 2010 study from BIA/Kelsey & ConStat found
that 97% of consumers research products
online before buying.
How are people performing online product research?
Comparison shopping sites
Vertical sites
Internet yellow pages Percent of respondents
Search engines
0 20 40 60 80 100

6. eCommerce Facts and Figures
This trend isn’t limited to
consumer goods, either.
People are buying all kinds
of products
online, including
promotional items and
apparel.
In fact, Google estimates
that over 5,000,000 web
searches will be made for 5 million! That’s a lot of
promotional t-shirts this searches!
year.

7. eCommerce Facts and Figures
According to Google, millions of web searches for promotional
products are performed every year. In fact, people search for the
general term “promotional products” over 360,000 times
monthly.
Promotional Monthly global Annual global
product category search volume search volume
Awards 20,600 247,200
Bags 327,100 3,925,200
Coffee Mugs 69,100 829,200
Pens 150,500 1,806,000
T-Shirts 475,900 5,710,800
Water Bottles 47,300 567,600

8. eCommerce Facts and Figures
Several top online distributors believe online
sales in the promotional products industry are
well north of $3 billion already.

9. eCommerce Facts and Figures
Right now, online retailers are outpacing their
brick-and-mortar counterparts when it comes to
revenue growth.

10. eCommerce Facts and Figures
This upward trend only looks to continue as
more businesses and consumers get online.

11. Going Mobile
eCommerce is still growing
rapidly, but it’s not growing nearly as
rapidly as mobile commerce.
• Nearly half of all phones in use
are smartphones.
• People use their mobile phones to
research retailers, read product
reviews, and even make
purchases.
• People cite the convenience as
the leading reason for shopping
with their phones. Smartphones for the whole family!

12. Going Mobile
The smartphone revolution is taking no
prisoners. As of February 2012, nearly
half of all mobile phones in use were
smartphones according to Nielsen.
Smartphones have reached 50%
market penetration in less than 10
years—faster than the
Internet, radio, or computers.

13. Going Mobile
People aren’t just checking email, playing games, or surfing the
web with their phones. They’re shopping, too. Forrester
Research estimates shoppers will spend $10 billion through
mobile phones this year.

14. Going Mobile
People cite convenience, special offers, and
product comparisons as the main reasons for
shopping on their smartphones.

15. Thinking Global
• Global eCommerce
sales are on pace to
top 1 trillion dollars in
2014.
• The European
eCommerce marketing
is larger and growing
faster than the US The Internet can give your business a
global reach. Are you going to pass on
market. that opportunity?

16. Thinking Global
US citizens aren’t the only ones spending money
online. Global eCommerce sales will be over
$800 billion dollars this year.

17. Thinking Global
Despite the economic crisis threatening the European
Union, the European eCommerce market is growing
faster than the US.
USA Europe USA Europe
18.2 259.5
194.3
16.1
Percent Growth Annual sales (in billions USD)

18. Myths on Internet Selling
• “Web companies cheapen
the promotional products
industry.”
• “People only place small
orders online.”
• “Sourcing and product safety
are problem areas for web
companies.”
• “Internet companies cannot
provide the same level of
service as brick-and-mortar
companies.”

19. Myths on Internet Selling
“Web companies cheapen the promotional
products industry.”
In our conversations with online
distributors, we have found that the
vast majority of online providers are
using the industry’s top 40 suppliers
along with others also accredited by
ASI, PPAI, or both.

20. Myths on Internet Selling
“People only place small orders online.”
One online provider reported, “we had
over 400,00 orders last year, and while
6-figure orders weren’t the norm, we
did see them.”
Another distributor noted, “although
we may not see $10,000 orders every
day, we do receive over 100 a year.”
Finally, another company
commented, “our average order value
rivals that of the brick-and-mortar
distributors we’ve spoken with.”

21. Myths on Internet Selling
“Sourcing and product safety are problem areas
for web companies.”
After speaking with several online
providers, we’ve found the opposite
to be true.
The added visibility of being online
has prompted Internet-based
distributors to take extra steps to
ensure the products they sell are
safe.

22. Myths on Internet Selling
“Online distributors cannot provide the same
level of service as brick-and-mortar companies.”
The online providers we
spoke with feel they exceed
client expectations, and
provide quicker turn-
around than their clients’
traditional vendors.

23. Looking Forward
• US eCommerce sales will exceed $200 billion in 2012. By 2015, the web
will account for at least 11% of all retail sales.
• Mobile and global eCommerce are growing at rates impossible to ignore.
• Current generations have embraced the Internet and smartphones, so
traditional sales and marketing methods no longer apply.
• Online-only promotional product distributors have cracked the top
10, and that number only looks to grow.

24. Looking Forward
• Traditional marketing methods no longer apply for younger
demographics, who prefer text messaging to email or face-to-face
meetings.
• Social commerce (sales originating from social networks such as Facebook
or Twitter) is a new and exciting frontier for businesses. Sales on these
channels are expected to grow 93% per year until 2015.

25. Looking Forward
In 2011, online distributor 4imprint generated nearly 225 million
dollars in revenue, and they recently announced growth of nearly
19% for 2012.

26. What have we learned today?
• All ages are shopping online.
• People research purchases online
before making them—including
promotional products.
• Mobile phones and global sales are
the next steps in the evolution of
online commerce.
• Industry rumors are just that—
rumors.
• 4imprint’s and Branders.com’s
success online show that the
industry is changing.

27. Credits and Acknowledgments
Data charts courtesy of the following:
 Internet Retailer
 Asymco
 ASI
 PPAI
Images courtesy of the following:
 eCommerce Facts and Figures: flickr.com/62337512@N00
 Going Mobile: drandreascorn.com
 Rumors in the Industry: djfrobot.blogspot.com
 Responding to the rumors 2: ultimatecoupons.com
 Responding to the rumors 3: zazzle.com
 Responding to the rumors 4: supersalesmen.net
 Looking Forward: flickr.com/kawaii77
 What have we learned today?: agoodteacher-razelalbios.blogspot.com