More on Research Online, Buy Offline

Nielsen put out consumer research in May that showed 80% of consumer electronics purchasers bought from a store whose Web site they visited first. Here are some additional data from that survey in graphical form (click to enlarge) involving “high consideration” purchases.

The question is: “Why did you make your most recent purchase in a local store rather than online?”

Source: Nielsen, May 2008

The chart below offers somewhat more nuanced data from Krillion and the e-tailing Group on the same general issue:

Source: Source: Web/Store Cross-channel Shopping Study, Krillion & e-tailing group, February 2008

As I’ve tried to argue, there’s often an offline stimulus that precedes Internet research (which then drives offline sales). That stimulus is often traditional media:

Source: Source: Web/Store Cross-channel Shopping Study, Krillion & e-tailing group, February 2008

And here’s the convoluted world of consumer product research online in terms of popularity of the various online sites and resources (according to the Krillion-e-taling study):

1. Visit the manufacturer’s website
2. Go to one of my favorite retailers online to learn more about what they have to offer and their prices
3. Go to a comparison shopping engine to check out prices of the products in which I’m interested
4. Conduct a search online and look at a handful of search listings found
5. Visit a store or several stores to preview the product and then go online to learn more
6. Go to a search engine that has brands I’m looking for and local information about availability and pricing

According to that same study there are gender differences in attitudes and behavior:

• Women are more traditional, favoring word-of-mouth, catalogs, magazines & newspapers
• Men are more Web-centric, embracing online promotions, banner ads and email

While consumer behavior is becoming more complex and e-commerce continues to grow (albeit at a slower pace) here’s the typical consumer behavior pattern:

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