Click Frenzy – What happened?

So was Click Frenzy a success?  I think probably so, despite the glitches when the site first went live.  Online shopping is here to stay and it is booming, although there will be further glitches into the future.  This is just part of our adventure into the shifting paradigm of online shopping.
 
Research shows that on average shopping websites get 22.1 million visits from Australian’s every day (not bad considering there is only 22 million people in Australia).  Over the 24 hour period of Click Frenzy there were over 29.5 million visitors to Australian shopping websites and there were over 8.7 million visits to participating Click Frenzy websites over the two days.  I think this probably translates as success.
 
Yes, it was frustrating for those online shoppers who were trying to access these sites when the system crashed and it was no doubt frustrating for the retailers and hosting provider but the event did generate a lot of extra traffic and sales, so I think it will probably survive this technical glitch.  Online has certainly transformed consumers into being even more impatient than before but I guess this is where online retailers want to get their customers to – no waiting in queues and no waiting for service!
 
The shopping demographic for Click Frenzy was also interesting.  It was women aged over 55 who were the most likely candidates and most of them were from Victoria and New South Wales.  These statistics alone represent more information than many traditional retailers are able to capture through their bricks and mortar stores when they have large sales.  As time moves on, analysing the data from your online or mobile shopping website is going to become more and more important.  The web provides such a powerful tool for analysing this data but it does take some effort.
 
I think Click Frenzy proves the demand is there.  Those involved with the industry need to put more effort into ensuring the infrastructure is in place to make the experience ‘seamless’ and ‘without friction’ so that more and more consumers find online the only way to shop!