News

Survey: consumers doing more online window-shopping

May 15, 2008

CHICAGO — ShopLocal, provider of multi-channel shopping and marketing services, announced that the ShopLocal Retail Index was up 30 percent for the month of April compared with the same period last year. The Index registered 188 for the month (benchmarked at 100 for January 2006), and is based on 265 million page views from 21 million consumer visits to retailer sites.

According to a recent ShopLocal survey, shoppers are becoming increasingly discriminating about what they buy. The number of shoppers purchasing an additional item with the specific product they searched for is down nine percent from last year. Shoppers who do visit online weekly circulars, however, remain motivated buyers. 83 percent of those who visit online retailer circulars purchase within three weeks, according to the survey. Of these purchases, 86 percent occur in-store and 14 percent online.

"In aggregate, shoppers visit ShopLocal's network of retailer sites in excess of 20 million times each month so we have good insight into shopper behavior," said Vikram Sharma, CEO of ShopLocal. "It's clear that saving money on 'everyday needs' such as groceries is top of mind with today's shoppers. However, they continue to be receptive to good deals in more 'nice to have' categories such as consumer electronics."

April 2008 ShopLocal Index highlights include:

• The ShopLocal Index is up 30 percent in April year-over-year, with 265 million page views, versus 204 million last year.
• Consumer page views per visit on a per retailer basis averaged 12.8 for the month of April (adjusted), at a non-holiday high for the second straight month, representing strong growth of 10 percent from last year. This further highlights the increased level of diligence on the part of shoppers looking for deals.
• The food and drug category increased by 44 percent as shoppers looked for deals in the wake of rising food and gas prices.
• Though the department store and mass merchant category in the ShopLocal Index posted a 29 percent increase in April 2008, this was significantly lower than last month's 80 percent growth.
• Consumer electronics and office supplies grew 22 percent in April versus last year, but this was much lower than last month's 42 percent growth.
• The home and garden category finally rebounded with a 41 percent growth, after a long and harsh winter in many parts of the country.

The ShopLocal Index is the advertising industry's first market indicator designed to track the influence of the Internet on in-store shopping. Updated monthly, the Index is based on the online activity of an average of 20 million monthly consumer visits to store promotions that are presented on the sites of 50 major U.S. retailers, including such notable retailers as JCPenney, Best Buy, Walgreens and Home Depot.