A new study underlines the massive influence that Amazon exerts over the ecommerce market, with the site being the first port of call for the majority of online shoppers.
The second annual State of Amazon study by BloomReach found that Amazon is involved in most online activities, with 90% of customers checking the retailer even if they find the product they want on another ecommerce site.
The survey of 2,000 US consumers found that more and more people are hitting the Amazon website first, with its share of this action up 11% year on year, and the figures down for search engines and other retailers.
Amazon is the destination of choice for much comparison shopping, thanks to the retailer’s reputation for price-competitiveness, as well as the fact that it sells just about everything.
90% of consumers will check Amazon even if they’ve found their product elsewhere. 78% of these shoppers do this ‘often’ or ‘always’.
It works both ways though, with 70% checking products they’ve found on Amazon on other ecommerce sites.
Mobile shopping habits
The study also looked at shopping habits on mobile devices. Amazon still dominates here, but less so than overall.
50% of mobile shoppers try Amazon first, compared to search engines on 34% and other retailers on 16%.
76% of consumers shop on their smartphone, with 90% saying that they’ve made a purchase on a smartphone.
Almost 50% shop on a smartphone weekly.
92% say smartphone shopping can influence a purchase decision, while 52% say smartphone shopping often or always supports a purchase.
88% will use a smartphone to assist shopping in stores.
78% have a retailer mobile app, and 82% of those have a retailer app that isn’t Amazon’s.
Holiday shopping stats
With the holiday shopping season approaching, the study also looks into holiday-shopping behavior.
By Labor Day weekend, 42% of consumers had started gift shopping, and of the remaining majority who hadn’t, 61% will start on or before Black Friday.
A majority plan to do more than 50% of their holiday shopping online.
94% plan to shop on the Amazon this holiday season.
The survey also found that consumers seem to view Amazon not only as a place to buy gifts, but also as a place to look for inspiration:
When shoppers know what gift they want: 59% will start on Amazon, 24% on a search engine, and 16% at a retailer that has that product.
If people don’t have a gift in mind, 49% will start on Amazon, 28% on a search engine, and 26% on a retailer the gift recipient likes.
Source: ClickZ
Link: 55% of online product searches begin on Amazon: stats
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