Performics Survey Demonstrates Crucial Impact of Online Research on both Online and Offline Purchasing Decisions

November 20, 2006

New York, Performics, the performance-based marketing division of DoubleClick, today unveiled the results of a new survey the company commissioned that demonstrates the direct impact online research has on consumers’ purchasing decisions, for both online and brick-and-mortar stores.

The survey reveals that a majority of adults conduct research online before making purchases and that the majority of consumers become more brand sensitive after conducting online research. The survey reveals that the majority of consumers are likely to purchase the exact brand that they discover or research online. The survey also shows that consumers choose to shop online primarily for its convenience, in addition to product availability and price consideration.

“It is amazing to see just how much online research affects consumer purchasing decisions whether they buy online or at brick-and-mortar stores,” said Cam Balzer, vice president of strategic planning at Performics. “With Black Friday this week, the first Cyber Monday next week, and for the remainder of the holiday shopping season, consumers will be mixing up their shopping methods to find the best deals for gifts on their lists. The multi-channel shopper is now the norm, not the exception.”

Key survey findings include:

• 58 percent of adults plan to research online during this year’s holiday season and 43 percent plan to make both online and offline purchases based on that research.
• Men are more likely to research online before buying a product, with 33 percent of men saying they conduct research online always or most of the time, while 22 percent of women will conduct research online always or most of the time.  
• Nine out of ten consumers who conduct online research before buying a product say they “always” or “sometimes” end up buying the exact brand they researched.
• About three out of four consumers (77 percent) who conduct online research to make purchasing decisions end up making a purchase when they decide to go to the brick-andmortar store.

o When at the brick-and-mortar store, 52 percent of those consumers are likely to purchase the item they researched, while another 18 percent are likely to purchase the item and additional items.  

• About one fourth of adults (27 percent) list convenience as the primary reason for online shopping, followed closely by product availability (22 percent) and price (16 percent).

o Product availability is the top reason why 18-24 year olds purchase online (34 percent).

o Convenience is the top reason for purchasing online for those with household incomes of $75,000 or more (44 percent).

According to Balzer, this holiday season marketers should consider targeted online campaigns around “Cyber Mondays,” the Mondays between Thanksgiving and Christmas, which generate major e-commerce sales peaks for online retailers.

 “To capitalize on the shopping season and the upcoming four Cyber Mondays, retailers will use the flexible and nimble nature of search engine marketing to help attract consumers,” Balzer said, adding that, “Search allows marketers to adjust keyword campaigns and copy, as well as bid prices, in real time to help consumers navigate online-only content, shipping information and different holiday hours for local stores – even for late in the season sales.”

Methodology

These findings are from a survey conducted by via telephone October 20–23, 2006 among a random sample of 1,053 adults 18 years of age or older. The results have a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points among the total sample. Opinion Research Corporation of Princeton, NJ, conducted the fieldwork. Questions not run on total sample will have a larger margin of error.