• by Kate Kaye , June 2, 2004

As consumers become more accustomed to shopping online, the results of a report from DoubleClick, Inc. show that pageviews, conversion rates, and the size of orders driven through on-site search engines have increased. The marketing technology firm's Q1 2004 E-Commerce Site Trend Report also indicates that some things haven't changed, such as the high value of repeat customers and the pesky reality of abandoned shopping carts.

In Q1 2004, online shoppers converted at an overall rate of 4 percent, as compared to 3.5 percent in Q4 of last year. In addition, 52 percent of visitors who initiated the checkout process completed purchases. The report presents aggregated data based on visitor interaction with Web sites of pure online retailers and multichannel marketers that use DoubleClick's Web analytics software.

"Broadband is playing a huge role in conversion and how quickly these e-commerce sites load," observes Stacey Nachtaler, president of Agency.com's online advertising division, itraffic.

Accounting for just 1 percent of visitors, repeat customers converted and spent the most of all customer segments measured--at a rate of 20 percent. They also spent an average of $180 per session, and added items to shopping carts six times more often than previous visitors who had not yet made a purchase. Visitors who had never made purchases, however, accounted for 95 percent of all site visitors, but were responsible for 78 percent of all abandoned carts.

Chris Bowler, Media Director at itraffic, says his agency "works with niche sites that have more loyal customers," so the percentage of repeat customers of itraffic's e-commerce clients tends to be higher than 1 percent. Itraffic's e-commerce clients include high-end women's apparel site Barrie Pace and golf apparel site Bobby Jones.

Noncommittal shoppers remain a thorn in the side of online shopkeepers, according to the DoubleClick report. From Q4 2003 to Q1 2004, 56 percent of visitors who placed items in shopping carts began the purchase process, while 60 percent of all carts were ditched before checkout was complete. The average size of incomplete orders was $352.74 in Q1 of this year, down from $415.62 in Q4 2003 and roughly equal to the values of Q2 and Q3 of last year. The study also found that Web shoppers were 25 percent more likely in Q1 2004 than in Q4 2003 to put something in an online shopping cart, but returned 14 percent less often to reclaim those carts.

"The greater issue," believes itraffic's Bowler, "is why they're abandoning [online shopping carts]." He suggests that it's more important for Web retailers to analyze the degree to which cart desertion is a natural online shopping behavior, before they invest in tools to quell abandonment.

Why are people leaving shopping carts in limbo? According to Eric Kirby, director of strategic services at DoubleClick, 84 percent of participants in a DoubleClick survey conducted during Q4 2003 said additional costs tacked on at the end of the purchase process--such as shipping and handling--were too high.

"Over the past year," continues Kirby, "it's become much more common for companies to run free shipping promotions." Others send shopping cart deserters follow-up emails offering free shipping. He adds that the debate rages on over whether to inform site shoppers about shipping and handling fees earlier in the purchase process.

Web site search engines propel some purchases, according to the report. More than 14 percent of visitor sessions included search in Q4 2003 and Q1 2004; the percentage of sales resulting from on-site search activity also remained steady at 8.2 percent. The average order size resulting from site searches was up 24 percent from Q4 '03 to $112.94 in Q1 '04.

It appears that Web shoppers are inspecting more items in less time. Pageviews per visitor session rose to an average of 11 pages in the first quarter of this year. However, users spent less time viewing each page--29.44 seconds in Q1 '04 compared to 32.47 seconds in Q2 '03. Web site home pages accounted for 6 percent of pageviews, according to the study.

The Q1 2004 E-Commerce Site Trend Report, encompassing data collected since Q2 2003, measured a total of 160 million unique visitors, 2.1 billion pageviews, 17.7 million online shopping carts, and $800 million in total Internet sales. DoubleClick would not reveal the number of sites monitored for the report.