Getting to know the Christmas online shopper

1
Getting to know the Christmas online shopper

• Guy Phillipson, CEO
• The Internet Advertising Bureau
• 6th July 2005

2
The barriers have gone

• You can find anything you want
• Broadband makes it spontaneous and fast
• The best sites are easy to use
• Enhanced images, close-ups, 3D
• Easy to find the best prices
• Fewer security issues
• Speedy service, email confirmation, home delivery

3
What is the one best thing about shopping online
at Christmas?
Source Nielsen/Net Ratings Megapanel survey
4
For speed, convenience and value, theres no
contest
5

• The Effect

6
The effect

• 460,000 Americans make their living on Ebay
• Its empowering and rewarding
• Its fun and easy to use
• Its secure and keeps you informed about
• transactions
• Theres a Ferrari 360 up for sale for 150,000!!!
• Ebay builds online buying skills

7
The internet is used at every stage
Purchase process
Initial scan
Purchase

I know nothing

I know nothing

I want to

I want to

I want reassurance

I want reassurance

Final just in

Final just in
about

about

compare

compare

about my choice

about my choice

case

case

Source Henley Centre / AOL 2004
8
The new purchase model the need to be informed
An example of buying a washing machine
Pre
-
internet
With internet
ONLINE
OFFLINE
Cheap
AOL
washing
AOL
John
machine
Lewis
Decision
Discussion
shop
Google
Google
with
partner
Lewis
Pop
Lewis
Comet
Purchase
Online
ups
Online
Example taken from Qualitative Research Source
Henley Centre/AOL 2004
9
Information sources ranked by importance
who consider the following to be important
sources of information when researching/considerin
g a product or service
Search engines
71
Personal recommendations
67
Websites of well known brands
57
Websites of well known retailers
57
Price comparison websites
56
Reviews/opinions on the internet written by
experts
50
Customer opinions/reviews on websites
47
Product information in shops
46
Content provided by your Internet Service Provider
38
Television
34
Newspapers/magazines
34

Salespeople in shops
24
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Base excl. dont know
Source Henley Centre / AOL 2004
10
Info sources ranked by honest and fair
who trust the following information sources are
honest and fair
90
90
73
73
73
73
68
68
67
67
61
61
60
60
60
60
53
53
44
44
35
37
31
35
31

Base excl. dont know
Source Henley Centre / AOL 2004
11
Reasons for choosing online shopping websites
Source Henley Centre / AOL 2004
12
Use of price comparison sites
Source Henley Centre / AOL 2004
13
Price Comparison Site User Profiles

• Those earning under 20,000 p.a were least
  likely to use price comparison sites
• Those in the highest household income bracket
  (40,000 p.a.) use a greater number of price
  comparison sites than any other income bracket

Source Henley Centre / AOL 2004
14
Researching and buying online
Researched Online
Ever bought online
First bought online (mths ago)
Researched products/services online
Bought products/services online
Number of categories
Times bought online
Number of categories
Researched Online, bought offline
Spend
358.39
Researched offline, bought online
Researched products/services online, bought
offline
Researched products/services offline, bought
online
Number of categories
Number of categories
Source AOL/NOP 2004
Base All GB Internet Users (7939),
15
Online experience and information also translates
into offline purchase
(by category) who bought offline after
researching online
69
Cars
63
Garden/DIY products
62
Home furnishings
58
Mobile phones
57
Large home appliances
57
Consumer electronics
54
PC/Computer hardware
53
Small home appliances
53
Clothing/accessories
51
Health and beauty products
44
Computer games
40
Financial products or services

39
Food/groceries
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Source Henley Centre / AOL 2004
16
As a result, the purchase process is more
considered

• 73 of online consumers agree that I spend more
  time researching products now that I have access
  to the internet

Source Henley Centre / AOL 2004
17
The importance of onlinereviews

• Can make or break the sale

18
Online is trusted

• If there was a hundred reviews out there on a
  product, theyre not all going to be nutcases and
  theyre not all going to be murderers if a
  hundred people are saying This product is crap
  its going to be pretty bad and enough people are
  saying This product is really good its got to
  be pretty good

Source Henley Centre / AOL 2004
19

• Trust

20
Trust is key If you are not trusted, you are not
in the ballpark.
When buying online, I will buy a product if
Yes
Yes
No
No
82
90
13
54
21
Summary

• People enjoy value and convenience online
• No need to fight the crowds on High Street
• Broadband brings products to life (quickly)
• Online ads, content and search deliver your
  customers
• More than half use price comparison sites
• Online reviews can make or break a sale
• Trust and security are key