Internet Valuable Research Tool for Holiday Shoppers

The internet will be a key tool for holiday shoppers this year, according to the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) 2006 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey carried out in October.

by Helen Leggatt

Of the 7,623 consumers surveyed nearly half (47.1%) stated they would purchase at least one item online during the holiday period, over 10% more than in 2003.

Survey results also showed a large number (88.7%) use the internet to research products. “While many shoppers plan to purchase holiday gifts online this year, others are using the Internet to look for gift ideas, research products and compare prices before heading to the store,” said Scott Silverman, executive director of Shop.org, the online retail division of NRF.

The most popular search engine used for product research is Google (23.6%) with Amazon the most popular retail website (5.5%). Only 0.8% of those surveyed planned to go direct to a manufacturer’s website.

Which products are consumers researching prior to purchasing? The majority of both men (39.3%) and women (29.5%) said electronics. Next on the list for men was appliances (20.9%) and home improvement (20.1%), while women concentrated on clothing (23.9%) and health/vitamin supplements (18.1%).

“Companies view the internet as a marketing opportunity, not only a sales channel,” said Phil Rist, Vice President of Strategy at BIGresearch. “Retailers see their websites as the first connection they make with many consumers and will be sprucing up their sites to give holiday shoppers ideas and information on popular gifts.”