Consumers who search online for digital cameras and TVs spend 10% more when making their purchase in-store than consumers who don’t search online, according to a new study. And in addition to spending more, most of the online researchers already have picked a brand to buy before entering the store, with 80% ultimately purchasing in store a brand they had selected in advance.
“Manufacturers have a huge opportunity here – even if they don’t sell products online, their online efforts are impacting what people are buying in stores,” says David Rubenstein, senior director in the technology and telecommunications category at Yahoo Search Marketing. Yahoo conducted the in-person survey of 1,100 store shoppers with ChannelForce, a training and merchandising consulting company. Shoppers were interviewed upon entering such stores as Best Buy, Circuit City, Fry’s and Target.
The study also determined that the Internet is the top source for researching digital cameras and televisions. 75% of those who researched their purchase before visiting a store used the web as their primary resource, with retail web sites the leading information source, cited by 73%. Manufacturer sites were cited by 68% of those surveyed and search engines by 49%.
Shoppers who had used search to find product information on digital cameras spent on average $31 more on cameras and $46 more on camera packages than those who didn’t use search, the survey found. Shoppers using search to research televisions spent on average $139 more on TVs and $190 more on TV packages.
While 80% of the online researchers surveyed did end up buying a brand they’d decided on before going into the store, the remaining 20% said their decision was influenced by store sales associates. The associates played an important role in explaining advanced product features, with 75% of respondents saying that even when they had picked a brand, they didn’t know what model they wanted when they entered a store.
“We know that the brand experience begins well before the shopper walks into the store,” says Kurt Higgins, president of ChannelForce. “Manufacturers and retailers should consider this information not only for marketing, but also for continuously educating and evangelizing store personnel.”
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