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Shoppers Check It Out Online, Then Go To The Store
by Jack Loechner, Thursday, July 20, 2006 3 AM
Shoppers Check It Out Online, Then Go To The Store According to BIGresearch's June Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, when asked how often they research
products online before buying them in person or in a store, 87% of nearly 7,500 respondents said they did so occasionally to regularly. Of those who said they
researched products online before buying them in the store:
- 58% made less than $50K per year
- 51% were
female
- 59% were between the ages of 25 and 54
The survey also divided these respondents into two income brackets to
profile which items were most frequently researched online, but purchased in person, by those making above and below $50K per year.( Joe Pilotta, VP of Research for
BIGresearch, said "Those in the higher income bracket researched and then bought electronics most often, followed by home improvement items and appliances. The other group reported electronics,
apparel and medicines/vitamins/supplements as their top three products researched online, then purchased in person."((
Types Of Products Researched Online In Last 90 Days Before Buying in Person (% of respondents) Top 5 Products ResearchedAdults (18+)$50K+/yr.<$50K/yr. Electronics 39% 43%
35% Apparel
17% 18%
17% Appliances
17% 20%
15% Home
Improvement Items 16% 21% 14%
Medicines/Vitamins/Supplements 15% 14% 16%
Source: BIGresearch CIA, June 2006 In
both income groups, the top search engine used for product research was Google.com by a large margin, but WalMart.com made a surprising appearance in the top 5 websites used first among those who did
their comparative shopping online before buying in the store.
Websites Viewed First When Researching Products(% of respondents) Top 5 Search Engines UsedAdults
(18+)$50K+/yr.<$50K/yr. Google.com 22% 27%
20% Yahoo.com
8% 7% 8%
Amazon.com 6%
7% 5% Ebay.com 3%
2% 4% WalMart.com 2% 1% 3%
Source: BIGresearch CIA, June 2006 Pilota concludes, "... Retailers cannot view online as ancillary to the store, rather retailer websites must be viewed as extensions of the bricks and mortar as well as a
concentrated shopping experience."
Additional information on the CIA may be accessed by going here.