Shopping stats - Speed and price influence e-shoppers

by Charlotte Goddard,, Revolution UK 01-Jan-04, 08:00

What makes users choose to shop from a particular web site?

Two recent surveys sought to discover why users choose one shopping site over another. Directline.com commissioned a study from TNS of 1,002 adults in 3-5 October 2003 while eDigital Research questioned 670 internet users between August and October 2003.

TNS found that brand awareness is a key factor in the purchase decision.

It asked consumers whether they purchased from household names, brands they knew (whether they're on the high street or pureplay internet), or just any web site, even if they hadn't heard of the retailer. It found that 55 per cent of respondents claimed to prefer purchasing from a trusted brand, whether pureplay or multi-channel, although 28 per cent said they would be comfortable buying from an unknown brand.

There were some differences between age groups, however, with 55 to 64-year-olds more likely to trust high-street brands (53 per cent) than known-brand pureplays (24 per cent) and unknown brands (23 per cent). However, younger users favoured online-only brands: 37 per cent of 16 to 24-year-olds preferred to buy online if they trusted the brand, even if it was online only, and 34 per cent said they'd buy online even if they had never heard of the retailer.

EDigital Research found brand awareness wasn't such a key factor as usability, price and security (see graph). When asked to rank the top-three reasons for buying from a web site for the first time, the most popular responses were: 'It is quick to find what I want, order and pay for it' (26.5 per cent); 'It's cheaper online' (24.3 per cent) and 'I'm confident that I am dealing with a secure site' (13.1 per cent). 'I trust the brand name' scored only 4.5 per cent. The same was true when users were asked the reason for making a repeat purchase: price (19.1 per cent), usability (20.3 per cent) and fulfilment (23.5 per cent) were the main criteria, with 'I trust the brand name' coming in at 3.32 per cent.

EDigital Research asked consumers if a site's good service would encourage them to buy from its high-street store or catalogue, and 29 per cent agreed.

And 44.3 per cent agreed that bad online service would deter them from visiting the store. This suggests that, even if brand is a less important purchasing factor than price and usability, the online experience will reflect on the company overall.