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Note to media: Click here to
download a full report of the survey.
For Immediate Release
Contact: Kathy Grannis or Ellen Davis (202) 783-7971
Email: grannisk@nrf.com or davise@nrf.com
Internet to Influence
One in Four
Purchases, According to NRF Survey
“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 NRF. “Retailers’ ongoing efforts to
make their stores and websites work hand-in-hand will create more sales and
happier customers.”
Though nearly half (47.1%) of consumers plan to make at least one holiday
purchase online this year, up from 36.0 percent three years ago, many will also
use the Internet to browse before heading to stores to buy. According to the
survey, most consumers (88.7%) regularly or occasionally examine products on
the Internet before buying in a store.
When it comes to researching merchandise, electronics are the most popular
searches; more than one-third of online shoppers (39.3%) said they have browsed
for electronics online before buying in a store within the last 90 days. Other
popular merchandise that shoppers have recently studied online before buying in
a store is apparel (20.0%), appliances (19.6%) and home improvement items
(18.0%). Consumers also said they have researched medicines, vitamins and
supplements (16.2%) and shoes (16.1%) online before purchasing in a
store.
“Companies view the Internet as a marketing opportunity, not only a sales
channel,” said
The survey found that shoppers use a variety of websites to research and
compare products. Many consumers said they begin their online research at
Google.com (23.6%) though Yahoo.com (7.2%), Amazon.com (5.5%) and eBay (3.7%)
were other popular places for shoppers to begin searching for merchandise
availability, prices and product specifics.
About the
Survey
The NRF 2006 Holiday
Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey was designed to gauge consumer
behavior and shopping trends related to the winter holidays. The survey, which
polled 7,623 consumers, was conducted for NRF by BIGresearch from
BIGresearch is a consumer market intelligence firm that provides unique
consumer insights that are gathered online utilizing very large sample sizes. BIGresearch’s
syndicated Consumer Intentions and
Actions Survey monitors the pulse of more than 7,000 consumers each month
to empower its clients with unique insights for identifying opportunities in a
fragmented and changing marketplace. www.bigresearch.com
The National Retail Federation is the world's
largest retail trade association, with membership that comprises all retail
formats and channels of distribution including department, specialty, discount,
catalog, Internet, independent stores, chain restaurants, drug stores and
grocery stores as well as the industry's key trading partners of retail goods
and services. NRF represents an industry with more than 1.6 million
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