Dive Brief:
- A July poll from G/O Digital says that seven in 10 shoppers “often or always” research products online before going to stores.
- Search engines were the top method used to research products prior to a store visit, with 62% of shoppers; e-commerce sites such as Amazon came in second with 18%.
- One-quarter (26%) of digital shoppers in the U.S. will have started holiday shopping by the end of October, the poll says, and 42% more will begin in November.
Dive Insight:
With November and December retail sales set to jump 5.7% this year to reach $885.70 billion, eMarketer says, a new poll indicates that retailers should be ready to accommodate customers who are better educated about products than ever before.
Seven out of 10 shoppers say they “often or always” research products before visiting a store, according to G/O Digital’s survey, and 25% “sometimes” do so. Consumers turned to search engines first in performing research, with 62% researching using them to find out more about products, and 68% researching promotions before heading to the store.
As a result, retailers looking to steer shoppers into stores should be ready with advanced SEO and retargeting capabilities on desktop and mobile.
