One clear change is that more consumers are interested in price rather than the branding of the products they buy. Forrester says that if companies cannot compete on price then they should try to differentiate themselves in service, product quality, and overall shopping experience by implementing loyalty programs and store technologies that enhance consumers' overall shopping experience.
Confidence in on-line security has fallen from its peak in 2001, and shows no sign of recovery, according to the study of the last six years. Forrester says that close to one-third of on-line shoppers are technology pessimists, compared with 16% in 1998, being those who are less trusting of credit card transactions.