From Search to Purchase
Posted on Tue, Nov 02, 2010
A look at the changing path to purchase
The calendar says November 2, and already, I have purchased three holiday gifts with many, many more to go. Aside from me, did you know that half of consumers have already begun their holiday shopping? And like those consumers, I researched and purchased each gift online. Think about the last purchase you made, or even the next purchase you are going to make. What steps did you, or are you, going to take?
Purchase decisions, and the path one takes, can depend on your daily schedule, location, budget, what you’re buying, sense of urgency, and a host of other variables. The recession put an increased focus on price, but, this is just one variable.
According to a recent retail study by Microsoft Advertising and Carat, consumers engage with a variety of digital platforms as they research both small and large purchases, when they’re in physical stores and during post-shop activities. Additionally, the path to purchase is increasingly nonlinear – meaning people are jumping from source to source in a disjointed sequence.
The study examined the shift that has altered the traditional purchase funnel whereby marketers move consumers from awareness to sales to include digital media. For example, consumers may first learn about a product based on a tweet from a friend or a post on a social network, then go online via computer or smartphone to research the product, search for the product and consult product reviews. Beyond that, offline word-of-mouth and media remain influencers, making for a complex multimedia experience along the path to purchase.
Take a look at the following chart which shows the complexity in how a consumer goes from search to purchase. (Source: Webinar by ATG, Internet Retailer and the e-Tailing Group)
comScore, iProspect and Searchandise Commerce also looked at the consumer path to purchase in a July 2010 study entitled "The Value of Retail Search and Position." The results revealed that two-thirds of consumers begin the shopping process online, and that half convert offline. The path to purchase, in most cases, starts with a combination of search engine and site search on retail websites for price, brand and feature information, with shoppers consulting an average of 4.1 information sources during the process.
What these studies corroborate is that there is no magic formula or exact steps consumers take to research, browse and buy. The message for retailers and manufacturers is to be ready for consumers whenever and wherever they are.
Download The Value of Retail Search and Position study here:
