Technology Meets Tradition
Consumers can buy most anything online today, so why not Christmas trees too?
The New York Times this week reported that last year 200,000 to 500,000 Christmas trees were bought online. Many of the 60 U.S. growers that sell trees online are expanding their e-commerce capacity to accommodate what they expect to be a growing number of time-pressed consumers this holiday season who plan to order trees online.
Similar to purchasing a book from Amazon, the tree is packaged and shipped FedEx or UPS to arrive in about five days. One tree grower in the Times article says he may even add virtual tree selection where shoppers can pan the fields, find their tree, and he’ll cut it down for them.
To most people this method of tree shopping defies tradition, with many still probably wanting to personally select their own tree. To me, this trend is a snapshot of the bigger picture of e-commerce, which is that even small businesses like tree farms cannot ignore the Web’s potential. Consumers are ready and willing to buy most anything online given the technology is there to make the experience fast, experiential, and tailored.
The question is, are companies of all sizes ready for them?
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