Survey Examines Online Shopping Habits

Home Textiles Today Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 10/20/2010 2:52:19 AM

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. - Solutions provider Channel Advisor, based here, has published the results of its 2010 Consumer Shopping Habits Survey.

The survey, which the company has conducted for the past three years, is designed to reflect changes taking place in the ecommerce arena with a specific eye toward how consumers plan to shop online.

Key findings include:
• 58% of those surveyed plan to purchase their gifts online this year, besting brick-and-mortar stores by nearly 20 points.
• The economy doesn't seem to be as big of a factor as some may believe for the consumers surveyed: 41% said that their shopping habits were unaffected by the state of the economy, and 43% think the economy is bouncing back.
• When browsing for a gift idea, 59% of those surveyed started on search engines, followed by marketplaces at 28% . Only 10% started directly at a retailer's online store.
• Consumers are not as retail-name conscious as one may expect: 67% said they would purchase an identical product from an unknown store if the store offered a better value.

Survey results are available in the free white paper, Through the Eyes of the Consumer, which can be downloaded at www.channeladvisor.com/consumersurvey.