Web2Store shoppers present growing opportunity
New study shows consumers use Web to gather info before shopping for furniture
By Kay Anderson -- Furniture Today, July 24, 2005
High Point — In the fourth quarter of 2004, 11.7 million shoppers researched furniture online before making a purchase at a local store, according to Milwaukee-Wis.-based Dieringer Research Group.
Overall, Dieringer estimates 76.4 million U.S. consumers made offline purchases impacted by online information during 2004, up 27% from the prior year. The 2004 estimate is based upon tracking data from the annual, telephone-based American Interactive Consumer Survey (AICS) conducted by The DRG.
Consumers who do prior research online on home furnishings — furniture, accessories such as lamps and pictures, as well as home textiles — are serious about both their research and their purchasing. Dubbed Web2Store shoppers, these consumers represent an golden opportunity for furniture stores.
The Dieringer survey found that 75% of shoppers who researched home furnishings online said they had made a local shopping trip within the week following their online research.
In the fourth quarter of 2004, 17% of women who researched products online prior to shopping in a local store researched furniture. Other products that generated a comparable number of Web2Store shoppers include women's and men's apparel. But furniture researchers spend more time with their research, going online a median of 10.7 times, compared with 7.0 times for all Web2Store shoppers.
The Web2Store Benchmark Survey underscores the need for retailers to have their own Web site. More than four-fifths of consumers who research their furniture purchase online go to retailers' Web sites first. By contrast, 55% of all Web2Store shoppers visit manufacturer sites.
Furniture shoppers are somewhat more likely than Web2Store shoppers in general to use popular Web destination shopping sites, such as Amazon, cdnow and buy.com. They're also somewhat more likely to visit e-commerce portal sites such as Yahoo Shopping, MSN Shopping and AOL shopping.
Web2Store shoppers are a desirable group. They tend to have higher incomes and be better educated than the population at large. Home furnishings shoppers who research products and stores online also report higher incomes than Web2Store shoppers overall, especially in the $100,000 and up bracket.
Because 43% of Web2Store furniture shoppers are between 25 and 34, tapping into their shopping patterns when they are at the beginning of their furniture-buying lifetime could have long-term benefits for the industry.
The survey's results also points to the Internet as an ally rather than an enemy of brick-and-mortar stores. Web-to-store spending outpaced direct online spending in the 2004 fourth quarter among Web-to-store shoppers. In the quarter, furniture shoppers spent a median of $650 in local stores after researching on the Web. That compares with $300 spent directly online.
... of furniture shoppers expect to use the Internet more to do research before shopping locally 57%
Source: The Dieringer Research Group, 2005 U.S. Web2Store Benchmark Survey
| They purchased home furnishings offline after researching online | |
|---|---|
| millions of U.S. adult product purchasers | |
|
Home furnishings shoppers include consumers shopping for furniture, accessories such as lamps and pictures, and home textiles, such as beddings, towels and linens. Source: 2005 projection by The Dieringer Research Group, based on regression analysis of data from American Interactive Consumer Survey |
|
| 2000 | 35.5 |
| 2001 | 43.4 |
| 2002 | 54.2 |
| 2003 | 60.1 |
| 2004 | 76.4 |
| 2005 | 90.2 |
| Importance of online information in making a final decision to purchase locally compared with other information found | ||
|---|---|---|
| Source: The Dieringer Research Group, 2005 U.S. Web2Store Benchmark Survey | ||
| Much more important | 27% | 32% |
| Somewhat more important | 39% | 45% |
| Equally important | 30% | 22% |
| Less important | 3% | 2% |
| Much less important | 1% | 0% |
| Impact of online information on interest in purchasing a specific product or brand at a local store | ||
|---|---|---|
| Source: The Dieringer Research Group, 2005 U.S. Web2Store Benchmark Survey | ||
| Much more interested | 34% | 41% |
| Somewhat more interested | 46% | 43% |
| No effect | 18% | 12% |
| Somewhat less interested | 2% | 4% |
| Number of times Web-to-store shoppers purchased other products at store where they went to purchase products researched online | ||
|---|---|---|
| All Web-to-store shoppers | Furniture | |
|
* Note: "three or more" and "every time" are mutually exclusive. Source: The Dieringer Research Group, 2005 U.S. Web2Store Benchmark Survey |
||
| Never | 12% | 8% |
| Once or Twice | 43% | 38% |
| Three or More* | 28% | 40% |
| Every Time* | 17% | 14% |
| Elapsed time between Web-to-store research and store visits by furniture shoppers | |
|---|---|
| Source: The Dieringer Research Group , 2005 U.S. Web2Store Benchmark Survey | |
| Same day | 6% |
| Varies too much to say | 6% |
| 1–2 weeks later | 20% |
| Same week | 68% |
| Demographic characteristics of Web-to-store shoppers | ||
|---|---|---|
| All Web2Store Shoppers | Furniture shoppers | |
| Source: The Dieringer Research Group, 2005 U.S. Web2Store Benchmark Survey | ||
| By age | ||
| 18–24 | 11% | 9% |
| 25–34 | 33% | 43% |
| 35–44 | 19% | 23% |
| 45–54 | 25% | 20% |
| 55–64 | 8% | 4% |
| 65 + | 3% | 1% |
| By income | ||
| Under $20,000 | 9% | 7% |
| $20,000 –& $35,000 | 17% | 15% |
| $35,000 –& $50,000 | 17% | 23% |
| $50,000 –& $75,000 | 21% | 19% |
| $75,000 –& $100,000 | 14% | 12% |
| $100,000 or more | 13% | 15% |
| Refused | 9% | 9% |
| Products researched online by Web-to-store shoppers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| All Web-to store shoppers | Men | Women | |
| Source: The Dieringer Research Group, 2005 U.S. Web2Store Benchmark Survey | |||
| Electronics | 53% | 60% | 44% |
| Toys, games and hobbies | 35% | 31% | 40% |
| Apparel — women's | 28% | 19% | 40% |
| Apparel — men's | 26% | 31% | 19% |
| Jewelry and watches | 20% | 18% | 23% |
| Health and beauty | 20% | 13% | 28% |
| Sports and exercise | 19% | 23% | 14% |
| Telephones | 19% | 20% | 17% |
| Home accents/accessories | 18% | 17% | 20% |
| Appliances — major | 18% | 19% | 18% |
| Office and school supplies | 15% | 14% | 17% |
| Furniture | 14% | 12% | 17% |
| Textiles | 10% | 6% | 14% |
| Online resources used for local shopping | ||
|---|---|---|
| Percentage of Web-to-store shoppers using prior to local shopping trips | ||
| Source: The Dieringer Research Group, 2005 U.S. Web2Store Benchmark Survey Examples were given for "Major Web search engines" (Yahoo, Google, MSN), "E-commerce Web portal shopping sites" (Yahoo Shopping, MSN Shopping, AOL Shopping, etc.),"Shopping comparison sites" (shopping.com, pricegrabber), "Popular Web destination shopping sites" (Amazon, cdnow.com, buy.com, etc. ), "Product review or consumer opinion sites" (Consumer Reports, e-pinions.com, about.com) and "Web sites that specialize in local store sale information" (ShopLocal, Cairo, etc.). |
||
| Retailer Web sites | 76% | 82% |
| Major Web search engines | 76% | 80% |
| Manufacturer Web sites | 46% | 53% |
| Mail-order catalog sites | 22% | 33% |
| Popular Web destination shopping sites | 28% | 32% |
| Shopping comparison sites | 26% | 31% |
| Web portal shopping sites | 17% | 24% |
| E-mail promotions | 16% | 22% |
| Product review/opinion sites | 18% | 21% |
| Online Yellow pages | 13% | 21% |
| Web sites that specialize in local store sale information | 5% | 8% |
| Information sought online before visiting local stores | ||
|---|---|---|
| Percentage of Web-to-store shoppers, Q4 2004 | ||
| Source: The Dieringer Research Group, 2005 U.S. Web2Store Benchmark Survey | ||
| Product prices | 83% | 89% |
| Product features | 75% | 82% |
| Whether products are available at local stores | 57% | 66% |
| Store hours/location | 50% | 59% |
| Store coupons or discounts | 40% | 54% |
| Product reviews/opinions | 45% | 51% |
| Perceived benefits of Web-to-store shopping | ||
|---|---|---|
| Average where: | ||
| 1 = strongly disagree | ||
| 7 = strongly agree | ||
| Source: The Dieringer Research Group, 2005 U.S. Web2Store Benchmark Survey | ||
| Save time shopping | 5.9 | 6.1 |
| Form opinion of product | 5.6 | 5.8 |
| Decide which store to visit | 5.4 | 5.7 |
| Change idea about how much to pay | 5.2 | 5.4 |
| Save money at store by identifying discount | 5.1 | 5.4 |
| Check store inventory for availability | 4.9 | 5.3 |
| Find driving directions to store | 4.6 | 5.2 |
| Find coupon online | 4.0 | 4.5 |
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