In separate studies of online holiday shoppers, Andersen Consulting found that experienced Web users had good experiences, and PC Data found home Internet users are happy. This leads some to believe it's the new, at-work users doing all the complaining.
Even though 88 percent of experienced Web buyers abandoned their online carts at some point during the 1999 holiday season and 40 percent reported various problems, Internet shoppers were generally more satisfied shopping online than anyplace else, according to a study by Andersen Consulting.
Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of experienced Web buyers ranked Internet shopping the highest in terms of overall satisfaction compared to brick and mortar stores (60 percent) and catalogs (56 percent).
“Even though online shopping has its flaws, experienced Internet users love shopping on the Web. But the long-term message is clear: Internet retailers must solve their infrastructure problems or suffer consequences,” said Steve Johnson, co-director of Andersen Consulting’s eCommerce Program. “Thirty-five percent of online shoppers who experienced problems on a particular site left that site for another, our study revealed. Given high customer-acquisition costs, e-tailers can’t continue to lose one of every three consumers and expect to survive. Their top concern must be infrastructure improvements.”
Home Internet shoppers in general were very pleased with their online shopping experience during the holiday season, according to a study by PC Data and Goldman Sachs. The study found that 97 percent of respondents said they plan to buy online again.
The PC Data study also found that satisfaction with Web retailers’ gift delivery and exchange processes was also high, with 95.6 percent of respondents saying their experience in these areas met, exceeded, or significantly exceeded expectations. Only 3.9 percent said Internet retailers did not meet expectations, and 0.5 percent said they significantly underperformed.
“Immediately after Christmas, we all heard horror stories of undelivered gifts and orders gone astray,” said Cameron Meierhoefer, Internet Analyst for PC Data Online. “But this study strongly suggests these instances were the exception rather than the rule. The bottom line is that a majority of home Internet users had a good experience.”
Of those critical of the online buying experience, 51.6 percent said their items of choice were “sometimes” out of stock. Sixty percent said their items were delivered on time, while an additional 16 percent said the items were delivered “earlier than expected.” Nearly 90 percent of the respondents in the PC Data/Goldman Sachs’ survey said they did not intend to return items, and 68 percent said they did not use Internet customer service.
Three percent of the PC Data/Goldman Sachs respondents said they did not plan on purchasing online again, and they ranked shipping and handling costs as the main reason.
According to a survey by Jupiter Communications, consumers spent $7 billion shopping online this holiday season, and they were satisfied with the experience.
Jupiter’s survey of 810 holiday online shoppers found that 90 percent of online buyers indicated they were largely satisfied with their shopping experience, compared to only 74 percent in 1998. Only four percent of the respondents said they would decrease their online spending in 2000 based on their experience. In addition, 35 percent indicated that it would encourage them to buy more than they had previously anticipated.
According to the American Express Retail Index, the number of consumers who bought gifts on the Internet during the 1999 holiday season nearly tripled from 6 percent in 1998, to 16 percent in 1999.
According to the American Express survey, nearly one in five (19 percent) online shoppers said they purchased at least half of their holiday gifts via the Internet. The most popular items purchased online included toys (35 percent), electronics (34 percent), books/magazines (27 percent), music/movies (17 percent), and clothing (15 percent). To make their purchases, most consumers (81 percent) went directly to a retailers Web site (81 percent) while 27 percent surfed other sites, including those offering price/product comparisons like My-simon.com or shopping portals.
The survey also revealed that nearly all (95 percent) online holiday shoppers said the experience of shopping via the Internet was positive and that 96 percent said they would continue to shop online in the future.
Despite the growth in online shopping, consumers still seek the “brick and mortar” shopping experience, reporting that they made holiday purchases at an average of six different stores. Overall, the most popular place to shop was department stores (60 percent), followed by discount department stores (35 percent), specialty stores, such as clothing (21 percent), toy stores (17 percent), electronics stores (15 percent), and music/video stores (7 percent).
Inventory and delivery problems were atop the list of problems experienced by Internet shoppers during the 1999 holiday season, according to the Andersen Consulting study.
| Top 10 Problems Experienced by Internet Shoppers | Problem | Percent of Internet Buyers |
|---|---|
| Gift wanted to purchase was out of stock | 64 |
| Product was not delivered on time | 40 |
| Paid too much for delivery | 38 |
| Connection or download trouble | 36 |
| Didn’t receive confirmation or status report on purchase |
28 |
| Selections were limited | 27 |
| Web site difficult to navigate | 26 |
| Web site didn’t provide information needed to make purchase |
25 |
| Prices not competitive | 22 |
| Site didn’t offer enough gift ideas | 16 |
| Source: Andersen Consulting | |
Almost all (96 percent) of experienced Internet users anticipate they will use the Web to purchase products next holiday season, and 72 percent will use the Internet for day-to-day shopping in 2000, according to the study. The Internet outperformed catalogs and bricks and mortar stores on all key attributes that mattered most to online shoppers: competitive price, obtaining everything from one source, convenience, and time savings.
| How Internet Compares to Other Shopping Channels | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Internet | Catalog | Stores | |
| Offers most competitive price | 21% | 10% | 13% |
| Everything from one source | 12% | 7% | 13% |
| Convenience | 59% | 41% | 12% | Saves time | 62% | 33% | 3% |
| Source: Andersen Consulting | |||
Books, the first product category to be sold en masse on the Web, remain at the leading edge of e-commerce. Experienced Web users bought more books online than in stores this holiday season. In fact, according to the survey, books and videotapes were the only categories in which more online shoppers made more online purchases than in stores or via catalogs.
| Source of Gift Purchases | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Type of Gift | Percent purchased via | ||
| Internet | Catalog | Stores | |
| Toys | 48 | 33 | 57 |
| Books | 47 | 15 | 34 |
| Music | 42 | 15 | 34 |
| Videotapes | 35 | 17 | 30 |
| Clothing | 29 | 41 | 81 |
| Computer Hardware/ Software |
25 | 10 | 29 |
| Collectibles/Candies/ Knickknacks |
23 | 26 | 48 |
| Household items/ Appliances |
17 | 12 | 34 |
| Consumer Electronics | 17 | 10 | 25 |
| Cosmetics/Personal Care | 16 | — | 29 |
| Sporting Goods | 14 | — | 16 |
| Greeting Cards | 13 | — | 35 |
| Food/Wine | 11 | 10 | 17 |
| Gift Certificates | 9 | 6 | 38 |
| Flowers/Gardening Items | 9 | — | 5 |
| Pet Gifts | 6 | — | 21 |
| Periodical Subscriptions | 5 | — | 4 |
| Jewelry | 3 | — | 24 |
| Other | 13 | 11 | 8 |
| Source: Andersen Consulting | |||
When asked which type of product or service feature would increase the likelihood of purchasing more products or services over the Internet in the future, respondents cited free delivery, on-time guarantees, and no sales tax most often.
| Features That Will Drive E-Commerce | |
|---|---|
| Feature | Percent of Internet Purchasers |
| Free product delivery | 98% |
| On-time delivery guarantees | 95% |
| No sales tax | 91% |
| Coupons/promotions | 83% |
| Toll-free customer assistance | 68% |
| Live, online customer assistance | 62% |
| Customers reviews or recommendations | 62% |
| Helpful hints for colors, sizes, etc. | 58% |
| Free gift wrapping | 58% |
| Gift suggestions | 46% |
| Source: Andersen Consulting | |
Taking respondents from Andersen Consulting’s October 1999 pre-holiday shopping study of 1,492 online shoppers, a total of 541 of these Internet users responded to a follow-up over an eight-day period beginning Dec. 27 through Jan. 3. The survey was administered on the Internet. The data was weighted to the Internet population, and a small number of respondents who did not purchase holiday gifts were eliminated from the sample.
PC Data Online surveyed 4,742 US home-based Internet users who had shopped online in the past two months. The survey was conducted Jan. 4-5, 2000.
