Top 500 Guide® Buyer's Survey Results

Since we published the 2007 Edition of the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide®, we've been telling you it answers your key questions about America's burgeoning e-retailing business. Since then, we've sold more than 8,000 copies of the Guide, which ranks America's 500 largest e-retailers based on their annual online sales and provides complete data on their operations, performance and growth as well as strategic profiles on every one. Now, we have proof of our assertion that this comprehensive database on e-retailing has become an indispensable research tool for e-retailers looking to improve their competitive position, solution providers looking for e-commerce clients and anyone doing serious research on the e-retailing market.

This proof takes the form of an online survey conducted of buyers of the Top 500 Guide®. If there was any doubt they are completely satisfied with their purchase of the Guide, it is entirely dispelled by the remarkable results of this three-minute survey, which was completed by nearly 10% of all buyers.

Complete Results of the Top 500 Guide® Buyers Survey
The responses to the principal questions in the survey reveal the Top 500 Guide® is a major competitive research tool referred to frequently by buyers, shared with their co-workers and highly recommended to their colleagues. Here are the key results:

1. Content: Few publications receive more favorable reviews than the Top 500 Guide® gets from buyers about its content. Fully 76% rate the content as "Excellent" or "Very Good," and another 21% rate it as "Good." Click to See Results.
2. Frequency of Usage: The Top 500 Guide®'s high content ratings are clearly supported by the buyers usage report. Nearly two-thirds of them refer to their copy of the Guide at least once a week, which is why we call it the "Bible of E-Retailing." Click to See Results.
3. The Pass-Around Factor: The buyers of the Top 500 Guide® typically aren't the only ones in their companies using it, which increases its value as a reference tool. In fact, nearly half of the copies purchased are regularly used by three or more people. Click to See Results.
4. Serious Research: While the Top 500 Guide® provides contact data on 1,700 executives in e-retailing businesses, making it vital for vendors as a prospecting tool, its primary value is as a research tool that provides e-retailers with competitive and market data. Click to See Results.
5. It's Worth The Money: In today's environment of free information on the Internet, publishers have trouble getting customers to pay for any information, no matter how valuable it may be to them. But when it comes to objective market research, you get what you pay for—and 92% of the buyers of the Top 500 Guide® believe they got a good deal for their modest investment. Click to See Results.
6. Buyers Recommend The Guide: The buyers of the Top 500 Guide® overwhelmingly recommend that their colleagues buy this valuable databook. Click to See Results.