Shoppers Shift to Online

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The number of shoppers who buy online continues to increase, and many browse and purchase during business hours. The Internet Shopping Pulse survey from WSL Strategic Retail picked up the shift from bricks-and-mortar to retail. Analytical data from Coremetrics tracked the business day trend.

The biggest increases in online shopping since 2003, according to the Pulse study, were seen in electronics; office supplied and stationery; home furnishings; photos and photo supplies; jewelry and watches; prescriptions and greeting cards.

Browsing at online retailer sites has increased almost a full hour over the past two years. In 2003, the average shopper spent 2.4 hours shopping online, the 2005 survey records an average 3.1 hours per week. Twenty-one percent of shoppers count purchases from Internet sites as part of their overall shopping, not a supplement to in-store buys. That's a six point increase over 2003.

Online buyers find a large selection (64 percent) the number-one reason to shop online. Saving time (60 percent) ranks second, and checking for sales (51 percent) is third.

With the number of online purchases increasing, Web reporting shows the majority of purchases are made during business hours. Analytics firm Coremetrics, through its LIVEmark Index, finds retail sites receive 40 percent more visits, and 53 percent more purchases on weekdays.

The data are consistent with a recent Atlas Institute study that found Monday afternoons were the busiest time for online holiday shoppers. A previous study from the same source cited the lunchtime daypart as the best time for marketers to reach consumers online.

The Pulse report was derived from a national survey of 1,029 adults between August 25 and the first of September.