E-Commerce

Compared to email (2.82%) and social media (1.55%), search (31.43%) is easily the primary driver of direct e-commerce traffic, according to [download page] the latest quarterly report from Monetate covering Q1 activity. That's the way it has been for some time now, and probably will be for the foreseeable future, at least when considering that the share of e-commerce traffic coming from both social and email decreased in Q1 compared to a year earlier. But the researchers make a valid point that is bolstered by other recent studies: these findings are based on a last-touch attribution model, which typically undervalues social's role significantly. Read more »

Among Millennials (ages 18-35), men and women display different priorities when it comes to their preferred pastimes, according to [pdf] survey results from the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and Lachman Associates. Presented with a list of uses of free time and asked to select up to 5 favorite activities, a leading 58% of men said they watch TV, with about 4 in 10 saying they listen to or play music (43%), play computer games (42%), spend time with friends (41%) and spend time with family (38%). Among women, spending time with family (57%) is most popular, closely followed by watching TV (54%), with reading (47%), spending time with friends (43%), and listening to or playing music (39%) rounding out the top 5 most frequent activities. Read more »

For all the research and attention paid to showrooming, webrooming (doing research online and then buying in-store) is actually a far more popular activity among Millennials (aged 18-35) across several product categories, according to [pdf] survey results from the Urban Land Institute. For electronics items (computers, tablets, cellphones, TV/audio equipment, etc.), 50% of respondents prefer to research online but buy in-store, compared to 11% who prefer to do their research in stores but then buy online. Similar gaps exist when looking at Millennials' shopping preferences for shoes (25% vs. 10%), sports equipment and accessories (21% vs. 13%), and cosmetics and personal care items (20% vs. 8%). Read more »

Two-thirds of Americans prefer to shop in a store rather than online, details Synqera in results from an online survey administered in April. That supports prior research from Ipsos, which similarly found a majority of Americans to prefer shopping in-store. According to the Synqera survey, there are ways to bolster that in-store customer experience: 81% of respondents agreed that they are more likely to shop in a store that provides an overall customized shopping experience (such as personalized special offers and loyalty deals). Read more »

Some retailers aren't sold on the concept of digital channels being the primary driver of future growth, at the expense of stores. But most do see the value of digital channels in driving traffic to stores - and they have some thoughts on which work best once the consumer is actually in the store. Results from RSR Research's "The Relevant Store in the Digital Age" [download page] reveal that nearly all retailers see their e-commerce sites as having a lot (58%) or some (38%) value in driving traffic to stores. And while there's some angst about showrooming, 87% recognize that smartphones have a lot (50%) or some (37%) value in driving store traffic. Read more »

Wealthy consumers are as likely to make purchases in-store as online, and few have embraced showrooming, loosely defined as the practice of checking out a product in-store before buying online. According to new research from the Luxury Institute, 78% of wealthy consumers (earning at least $150,000 a year) had bought something in a store in the previous 12 months, and 77% had ordered something online via computer. Only 1 in 4 reported buying online after checking out merchandise in-store (the study did not mention the use of a mobile device in-store). Read more »

In conjunction with a new monthly e-commerce tracking initiative, Shopzilla has released research from a survey of online shoppers conducted immediately after their purchases from the Bizrate Insights Network of more than 5,200 e-commerce retailers in the US and Canada. The data shows that buyers were most likely to have first seen their most recent online purchase while surfing around online (29%) or when looking to find something specific (25%). Beyond those top 2 points of inspiration, store emails (11%) emerged as a key source, cited by more respondents than magazines (8%), ads (6%), blogs and other web content sites (4%). Read more »

Consumers continue to spend more and more online, as evidenced by the latest figures from comScore showing that Q1 represented the 14th consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth in retail e-commerce spending. In general, retailers feel that future retail growth will come primarily from digital channels, not stores, with 40% agreeing with that sentiment, versus 29% disagreeing, per results from a new RSR Research survey [download page]. However, top-performing retailers aren't as convinced: just 6% "strongly agree" that digital will be the primary driver of future growth, compared to 11% of respondents on average. Read more »

79% of smartphone owners qualify as "smartphone shoppers," says Google in new study results, using their devices to assist with shopping at least once a month. 84% of these smartphone shoppers use their devices to help them while they're in a store, equating to about 2 in 3 smartphone owners overall using their devices in-store. The most common way these consumers go about their research is through search, per the study, with store and brand websites less popular. That pattern also applies when smartphone owners compare prices, discover promotional offers, and find out where products are sold Read more »

US retail e-commerce spending grew by 13% year-over-year to reach $50.2 billion, estimates comScore in newly-released data. That makes Q1 only the second quarter to exceed the $50 billion threshold, after Q4 ended with an estimated $56.8 billion in spending. While the 13% rise in Q1 represented the 14th consecutive quarter of growth and 10th consecutive quarter of double-digit increases, it was slightly below 2012's growth rate of 15%. But, e-commerce spending accounted for 10.6% of discretionary spending in Q1, its highest share yet. Read more »