March 03, 2006 | Friday

(More) research: Online shoppers turn first to search

By Jackie Danicki - Blogger in News |Online Sales |Search Engines |Search Research

New research into online buying habits has been published by Outsell:

WHEN U.S. CONSUMERS SEEK SHOPPING information, they tend to start their research at one of the major Internet companies, rather than a shopping site, news site, or other source, TV or other media…

Almost six in 10--58 percent--of around 1,800 people surveyed by Outsell said that they rely on Google, Yahoo, MSN, or AOL as either a primary or secondary source of information. By comparison, 44 percent said they turn to other online shopping sites; 29 percent rely on magazines; 23 percent depend on word-of-mouth; 22 percent turn to print newspapers; 14 percent rely on TV; 8 percent go to online newspapers; and 4 percent turn to radio.

This research may be US based, but the findings reflect recent trends worldwide.