What Online Women Really Want - BIGresearch Study Uncovers Motivators for Increased Online Spending

COLUMBUS-March 28, 2001--- For the battered e-tailers of the world the key to success seems to keep changing. First it was convenience, and then easy access to online e-tailers then it was customer service. However, the key issues of shipping, delivery and price are what really motivate online women shoppers to spend more. That was uncovered in a just released study by BIGresearch which asked over 11,000 active Internet users what would motivate them to spend more shopping on the Internet. The study asked online shoppers what, where and why they bought online during the recent holiday shopping season.

The top 4 issues which consumers said would motivate them to buy more online, were:
1. shipping and delivery
2. pricing and promotions
3. payment options
4. privacy

When asked why they shop online, convenience, pricing and product selection are reasons current online shoppers usually cite. However, the issue of shipping and delivery costs, are roadblocks for enticing the non-shopping online users. "What the non online shoppers are saying is that pricing is certainly a factor but if you want me to shop online you need to address the shipping costs which are not a part of the normal retail shopping experience", said Joe Pilotta, Ph.D., Vice President of BIGresearch. Unfortunately for e-tailers, shipping costs are an inherent cost of doing business for direct merchants.

"It appears that the real obstacle facing e-tailers is the cost of shipping which, depending on the product, could add a substantial amount to the cost of the merchandise", said Pilotta. "The shipping efficiencies which are present in the offline world don't exist online and in a tight economy, such as today, people place a greater emphasis on price. Because most of the products online are readily available from a wide variety of local retailers for similar prices, the issue of overcoming the cost of shipping will require some creative solutions such as creating alliances with stores like Best Buy (BBY) or Wal-Mart (WMT). Those e-tailers who can offer unique products not readily available from local retailers will be least affected by product price comparisons or shipping and handling charges", said Pilotta.

The Post Holiday Shopping and Online Buying Motivators study was conducted between January 17th and 23rd, 2001 with over 11,000 online respondents.

About BIGresearch:
BIGresearch gathers very large samples from the world's largest online community of over 51 million e-mail newsletter subscribers and employs new computer intensive statistical methods to extract previously unknown, comprehensible and actionable information for crucial business or policy decision-making. www.bigresearch.com.

Complimentary top line findings are available at: http://www.formsite.com/prosper/info. The raw data is available for purchase from BIGresearch, which includes the ability to cross tab respondents by age, sex, zip code, geographic regions, and all other data points.

Contact: BIGResearch/Prosper International
Phil Rist
Phone: 614-846-0146
Fax: 614-846-0156
E-Mail: prosper@4prosper.com
Website: www.bigresearch.com