Online Shopping Websites in the USA and Germany
Anyone wanting to compare the structure of online shopping websites in the USA and Germany needs to first take into account the fact that people living in these two nations have their own national identities and personalities. As such, even in the borderless internet, what might appeal to an American in an online shopping website may not necessarily appeal to someone using an online shopping website in Germany. This year, whilst spending in online shopping websites in the USA will exceed $300 billion, the figure for online shopping websites in Germany is expected to be around the $100 billion mark. That piece of information needs considering in the knowledge that the population of the USA is 300 million plus, compared to about 82 million in Germany. So the two expenditure figures are comparable on a per head basis.
Spending in online shopping websites in the USA and Germany.
People in the USA, of all online shopping ages, are not spending significantly more in online shopping than many other countries like Germany; why might this be? One reason could be the level of fast broadband internet services that are available in the USA compared to Germany. Germany is continuing to undergo a significant program of investment to improve the German broadband infrastructure, resulting in better and more reliable connections, making online shopping faster in Germany. In the USA the situation regarding broadband provision is not so good, none of the major telecoms providers are willing to be the first to risk money upgrading the system, knowing that they could lose customers to elsewhere if they raise prices to pay for the improvements - a classic Catch-22. The result of this is that in the USA anyone living away from the major commercial centers and big cities with a broadband connection might manage a download speed of 2Mbps, compared to the German average of over 6Mbps.
Comparing online shopping websites in the USA and Germany.
Finding a great price for the products you’re shopping online for is one thing, but so too is satisfying yourself that the online store you’re buying from is a reputable and secure one. Shoppers online are exactly the same as shoppers on the High Street, even if you see something at a great price - if the store looks shabby or in any way unreliable, shoppers invariably go elsewhere. The same is true of online shopping websites in both the USA and Germany, they need to be eye-catching, enticing you in to look for more, whilst also giving you confidence that they are safe and secure to buy from online. The home page for a typical online shopping website in the USA will be very visual, using bright colors and graphics that clearly express notions of quality as well as offering good prices. The menu taking you to the various categories of goods will be very evident and, when hovering over one of the menu items, it may well split to reveal further sub-divisions of that category. Always with an eye to commercial gain, American online shopping websites may well prominently feature a particular product or company, this may be a ‘paid for’ advert by that company; or it could simply reflect a popular item being sought on the shopping website or something that is seasonally popular and relevant. Bearing in mind the cultural differences, an online shopping website in Germany will probably have a somewhat different appearance. For a start the menu system taking you to categories of the items for sale on the website will not be so readily apparent and the category divisions seem rather out-dated. For example, why have a category for digital cameras and another one for cameras and photos? Also, German online shopping websites seem more intent on sending you to individual product supplier’s websites, rather than offering you a choice of online stores to buy from. The home page of the German online shopping website will most likely not feature one product or company but several of them; which could be ‘paid for’ advertisements, or they could be determined by the highest number of recent searches or sales. It may be an over simplification but online shopping websites in the USA are easier to navigate that those in Germany. Part of this could be down to the broadband connection speeds. In the USA they need to get you to the product you’re after as quickly and efficiently as possible; whereas in online shopping websites in Germany, they can afford to provide more detail for the products and offers that are available.