Researching and shopping online has become even more popular in the United States thanks to a stronger economy and growing consumer confidence says, Dieringer Research Group (DRG).
The American Interactive Consumer Survey, which involved 3,000 US adults, revealed that three out of five regularly go online, with the majority using the internet for shopping and managing personal finances.
Along with shopping, researching products online is also growing in popularity, as the internet becomes a key influencer in purchasing decisions. Senior Consultant, Thomas Miller, said: “Our research shows that the internet now influences the purchase decisions of as many shoppers as mail order catalogues, direct mail and telemarketing combined.”
During the past year, 114.1 million adults searched for product information online and 98.9 million made actual purchases either on or offline as a result of internet research. In comparison, 106.7 million adults said they had purchased through a mail order catalogue, flyer or telemarketing sales call.
DRG says the importance of this to marketers is that the online audience is both younger and more affluent than the traditional direct marketing audience.
Interestingly, about 60% of respondents said that their opinions of product brands had changed as a result of online research, representing a 20% increase since last year.
US online content spending hit a massive $1.56 billion in 2003, according to the Online Publishers Association and comScore Networks, citing a 19% increase on the previous year (see US Online Content Spending Up By 19%).
In the UK, internet retailers can look forward to a huge sales boost as the Interactive Media Retail Group predicts that online shopping will generate £80 billion by 2009, with one in four purchases being made on the web (see UK Online Shopping To Reach £80bn By 2009).
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