48% of web shoppers plan to spend less this year than they did in 2008, but 61% of consumers who are reluctant to buy this year say web resources such as recommendations and promotional e-mails would help convince them to buy, according to a new study by JupiterResearch, a unit of Forrester Research Inc.
It seems like the news about the economy gets worse by the day. If it has you scratching your head (or ripping out your hair) trying to figure out what your online marketing strategy should be in the coming years, don’t get discouraged just yet.
In a survey conducted by Jupiter Research for Bazaarvoice and richrelevance, 61% of reluctant shoppers said they could be positively swayed by online shopping resources.
A new survey by Bazaarvoice, richrelevance and Jupiter Research on online shopping behavior continues to reinforce and build on the importance of the Web in making informed decisions.
Equally interesting, the study also shows a growing number now look to the Internet first as part of their decision-making process. Where 41% of consumers in 2004 already had decided on which item or title to purchase before going online to research, that number dropped to 31% in 2008.
User reviews and recommendation sites are more useful for typical online shoppers who plan to reduce the amount of money they will spend on a variety of products, according to a study released today. They might purchase these products from multiple channels, but have tweaked research and buying habits to get through tough economic times.
by David Selinger
As the former head of Amazon.com’s data mining and personalization team, I gained ample wisdom from what the retail giant does right. But I also saw firsthand a few things Amazon didn’t do quite so well, and learned the hard way that even simple mistakes can cost time, sales and brand equity.
As an e-tailer, you are obviously looking for every possible tool, trick and insight to help boost sales across channels—but have you gone back to basics lately?
Last week we looked at Baynote, a recommendations company that focuses on real-time community behavior instead of personalization. Today we look at a company that takes a broader approach: richrelevance uses personalization extensively, plus the wisdom of the crowds when relevant. richrelevance claims that its approach is “adaptive AI” and that customers such as Sears and KMart are using its technology. We spoke to richrelevance founder and CEO David Selinger (ex-Amazon), to find out more about the product and what makes it different to Baynote and others.
Burton’s site, which previously had served product recommendations to shoppers based on its top sellers, started using vendor richrelevance to help it offer a more personalized shopping experience. The personalized recommendations are based on an analysis of shopping behaviors and other data, including previous purchases and key search terms. Shoppers are presented with the relevant products at key points as they navigate through Burton’s site.