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Holiday shoppers turn to Internet sites
By SUZETTE PORTER
Article published on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2006 |
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![[Image]](/content_images/112106_fpg-03.jpg) |
| Photo by THOMAS MICHALSKI |
| Many shoppers use the Internet to browse before heading to a store, and 89 percent usethe Internet to examine products before making an offline purchase, according to theBIGresearch survey. |
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Almost 30 percent of shoppers surveyed said they will shop online for holiday gifts this year. Good news for retailers with online stores.
“While many shoppers plan to purchase holiday gifts online this year, others are using the Internet to look for gift ideas, research products and compare prices before heading to the store,” said Scott Silverman, executive director of Shop.org, the online retail division of National Retail Federation. “Retailers’ ongoing efforts to make their stores and Web sites work hand-in-hand will create more sales and happier customers.”
According to a survey by BIGresearch, almost 50 percent of 7,623 consumers surveyed plan to buy at least one purchase online this year – up from 36 percent three years ago.
Online shoppers may have already noticed sales promotions.
According to results of the 2006 eHoliday Mood Study, conducted by BizRate Research for Shopzilla and Shop.org, 38.5 percent of retailers said that they would start their holiday marketing earlier this year than last and more than half would begin promotions by Nov. 4.
“Due to shipping deadlines, online retailers have a shorter promotional window for the holiday season, so many of them want to be first out of the gate to debut holiday merchandise,” said Scott Silverman, executive director of Shop.org.
Online retailers also said they would offer shipping promotions this year including free shipping with or without conditions and discounted shipping.
Two years ago, only 64 percent of online retailers offered free shipping with conditions; this year, 83 percent of retailers will be offering the promotion, according to the eHoliday Mood Study.
Almost 75 percent of shoppers surveyed by BIGresearch said that free shipping offers are one of the most important factors when they decide where to buy online.
Early shopper discounts and first-time buyer discounts also are on the list of online promotions this season, according to the study.
The study also found that companies were optimistic about holiday sales, with one in five online retailers expecting to experience “hyper-growth” of 75 percent or more over last year. An additional one-third plan to experience strong growth from 30 percent to 74 percent and one in five were projecting growth of 15 percent to 29 percent over last year’s holiday.
Many shoppers use the Internet to browse before heading to a store, and 89 percent use the Internet to examine products before making an offline purchase, according to the BIGresearch survey.
About one-third of shoppers use the Internet to research electronics before making purchases at a store. Consumers also do research and check prices on items such as clothing, shoes and home improvement items.
“Companies view the Internet as a marketing opportunity, not only a sales channel,” said Phil Rist, vice president of Strategy at BIGresearch. “Retailers see their Web sites as the first connection they make with many consumers and will be sprucing up their sites to give holiday shoppers ideas and information on popular gifts.”
Shoppers use several Web sites to research and compare products. According to the survey, Google, www.google.com, was the most popular, followed by Yahoo, www.yahoo.com and Amazon, amazon.com.
The NRF 2006 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey was designed to gauge consumer behavior and shopping trends related to the winter holidays. The consumer poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.0 percent.
The eHoliday Mood Survey, now in its fifth year, is the only holiday measurement tool based on data provided directly from online retailers in addition to consumer data. The Survey, conducted by BizRate Research, a division of Shopzilla, for Shop.org, was designed to gauge consumer behavior and online retailers’ success during the winter holiday season. The poll included 2,914 online buyers (defined as anyone who has made an online purchase in the last twelve months) and 80 online retailers, all members of Shop.org.
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Article published on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2006
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