Which Shopping Channel Do Online Buyers Prefer?
By Anna Johnson on November 14th, 2008Do online shoppers prefer fixed-price third-party sites such as Amazon.com… auction sites such as eBay… comparison shopping sites such as Shopping.com, rebate sites such as eBates, or any other kind of online shopping channel?
Well, according to research by Piper Jaffray, no single mode of shopping dominates when it comes to online buyer preferences. Respondents to its study preferred fixed-price third-party sales most, followed by going directly to a retailer’s website, then search, auction and comparison sites… but not by significant margins:
- Fixed-price third party: 23 percent
- Direct-to-retailer: 22 percent
- Search: 19 percent
- Auction: 18 percent
- Comparison: 18 percent
Source: eMarketer, “Online Buyers Use Many Channels”, eMarketer, November 11, 2008
