Many Consumers Sold Before Ever Stepping Foot in a Store

03/28/2008

Many US consumers have made up their mind about their purchase before they ever step in a store, a recent survey by Krillion and the e-tailing group.

Two-thirds of online shoppers reported having spent at least 30% of their shopping time investigating possible purchases on the Internet. And, they were very thorough. They gathered and parsed information from numerous sources, e.g., info from other shoppers.

Based on this thoroughness, many reported having made up their minds before they ever set foot in an actual store – or wherever they wound up making the actual purchase. Interestingly, the study found that UK shoppers match this trend as well.

Given this, Internet marketers may be wondering what kinds of online information these savvy shoppers wanted to help them move toward purchasing. Web-savvy respondents reported the following as important:

Eighty-eight percent (88%) found the ability to be able to return merchandise in-store important. Following closely on the heels of this was current store promotions. Eight-seven percent (87%) rate this as highly desirable. Eighty-two percent (82%) wanted detailed store information.

What does this mean for the future for Internet retailers? eMarketer forecasts that by the year 2012, web-influenced retail store sales will be more than quadruple what retail e-commerce sales are.

For more insight visit Online Consulting Services