Four out of five retailers think the web is better suited than other channels to withstand the recession and one-third say the downturn has enabled them to capture greater market share.

The economy is forcing companies to change their marketing tactics in order to acquire and retain online customers according to the 12th annual State of Retailing Online survey by Forrester research. The survey also found that many retailers see the recession as an opportunity to capture market share from weakened competition.

RTO Online recently published the Rent-to-Own Industry Search Engine Monitor.

While Internet sales continue to outpace traditional retail sales (online sales are predicted to grow 11% in 2009), companies are realistic about current challenges. According to the survey, half of respondents (54%) expect overall retail growth to slow during the next 12 months and 57 percent acknowledge the economic slowdown is hurting their company's bottom line. That said, companies are bullish about web operations: four out of five retailers think the web is better suited than other channels to withstand the recession and one-third say the downturn has enabled them to capture greater market share. Illustrating the resilience of the web, retailers report that their conversion rates continue to hover between 3 percent and 3.5 percent as they have for years.

"Retailers everywhere are trying to get their arms around a pullback in consumer spending, and online retailers are no exception," said Scott Silverman, executive director of Shop.org. "Online retailers are trying to weather this economic storm by doing more with less, making smart spending decisions, and leveraging effective, affordable tactics like email to grow their businesses."

Under pressure from the economy, nearly one-third of companies (30%) are spending less than originally planned on web retail operations this year. Among retailers cutting costs, most (88%) will scale back hiring and staffing plans and slightly more than half (56%) will spend less on search. Others see the economy as an opportunity to increase market share and are charging ahead with new initiatives. Almost half of retailers surveyed (46%) have no plans to cut back original budgets and will spend as planned on their web business, while one in four retailers (24%) will spend more on their online business than originally planned. Companies planning to spend more will increase investments in several areas, including search (80% of respondents), email (65%), and social marketing (60%).

Despite the focus on customer retention, many retailers — primarily multichannel retailers — say their efforts at customer acquisition will be higher this year than last year. But for those retailers that operate primarily online, customer retention (which has historically been a distant second goal for this group) is now critical.

According to the survey, a majority of retailers (88%) list email as a high priority for the year, largely to retain customers. Almost three-fourths of retailers (71%) plan to send segmented emails to customers based on stated preferences or purchase data. In addition, more than half will use emails that highlight new product availability (55%), extend invitations to participate in surveys or garner customer feedback (55%), and feature online-only promotions (53%).

"Because consumers continue to spend online, interactive marketing spend to drive web sales remains a lucrative investment," said Sucharita Mulpuru, Forrester Research principal analyst and author of the report. "While other retail channels struggle, eCommerce managers have a unique opportunity to drive more sales and test different tactics that resonate with consumers."