• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, June 7, 2018

Amazon has gained the confidence of 67% of its customers, who say they trust the company to protect their personal data, according to an MPR/Marist poll of about 1,057 adults conducted from late April to early May 2018 via telephone interviews.

The NPR/Marist survey found that 44% of consumers start searching on Amazon rather than the 33% on Google, when it comes to online shopping or product search. About 10% will begin on a specific online store, website or app such as Walmart or Target. Some 6% will start on the brand’s website or app, and 5% will begin searching on an online marketplace like eBay or Etsy.

Close to two-thirds -- or 92% of America’s online shoppers -- now say they have bought something onAmazon. More than 40% say they buy something on Amazon once a month or more often.

Despite the growth of ecommerce, the study makes it a point to highlight that only about a tenth of all shopping dollars are spent online, which seems incredibly low. And analyzing all or retail, Amazon does trail far behind Walmart in annual sales.

The study also looked at the frequency with which consumers purchase items from Amazon. Some 37% of Prime members purchase items at least once monthly, compared with 18% of non-Prime members. About 29% of Prime members purchase something from Amazon about once weekly, compared with non-Prime members at 15%.

Other highlights of the data include 90% of online shoppers prefer free shipping even if an item takes longer to arrive, and 84% of online shoppers have purchased clothes or shoes from a digital retailer.

One of the more significant stats for marketers: 36% of men who have shopped online purchased an item with a price tag of $1,000 or more -- twice as many as women at 18% who did the same.