Although it isn’t quite yet holiday shopping season, consumers continue to visit Amazon for their first product searches, price comparisons and gift ideas.
According to a BloomReach study published Tuesday, 55 percent of people visit Amazon first when they browse for products online, 90 percent check Amazon even if they find goods on another retailer’s website and 94 percent said they will shop on Amazon for presents.
“Amazon continues to be the first destination when consumers want to find a product, driven largely by a perceived superior end-to-end experience,” BloomReach head of marketing Jason Seeba said. “Online shopping is all about relevance and convenience, and comparison shopping has never been easier—especially with mobile growth.”
The study, titled “State of Amazon,” found that the e-tailer played a key role in almost all digital activities. Seventy-eight percent of consumers said they check Amazon against other retailers for product information often or always. Amazon also remained the most preferred resource on smartphones as well, leading half of all consumers’ first product searches for mobile commerce.
As the holiday season approaches, Amazon will be top source for gift ideas and present purchases. Forty-nine percent of consumers unsure about gifts will start on Amazon first before checking other online retailers. More than half of consumers (59 percent) that know what they want will consult Amazon first for product information before visiting other digital brands.
Consumers turn to Amazon the most because the website offers the most seamless online shopping experience, with efficient product-filtering capabilities and diverse products. Interestingly enough, 58 percent of consumers also said that they visited Amazon after having a poor experience on a rival website. Something else that will work in its favor: the company announced Tuesday that it had expanded its same-day delivery service to Prime members in Toronto and Vancouver.
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Although Amazon may be consumers’ top e-commerce choice, there are some areas that other digital retailers can work on to sustain their shopper demographics. One-fifth of consumers said that counterfeit problems were their main concern with Amazon and 41 percent also said that enhanced personalization would make them more likely to purchase from another retailer. If brands and e-tailers were to home in on product authenticity and customized shopper experiences, they would keep their consumers away the likes of Amazon.
The election is also a factor that online retailers, including Amazon, may want to follow up on as the holiday season approaches. Despite the fact that a majority of consumers said that the election wouldn’t impact their holiday spending in a RetailNext survey out Tuesday, almost one-quarter of consumers mentioned that elected candidates would impact their seasonal budgets.
“There will be slight degrees of variability in store visits and retail performance early in November due to the election,” said Shelley Kohan, RetailNext vice president of retail consulting. “As this holiday season has two additional shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, an overlapping of the beginning of Hanukkah with Christmas Eve and a bevy of generally positive economic indicators, the retail industry should close the year relatively strong.”