Familiarity Spurs Visits, Survey Finds

Familiarity with the types of products offered by a company or brand has proven to be a key influencer in driving traffic to your Web site. Such was the finding of the 2007 edition of the Top 40 Online Retail Satisfaction Index conducted by ForeSee Results. The survey used the methodologies of the American Customer Satisfaction Index, and is based on the responses of more than 11,000 online shoppers. Here are some of its findings.

* 78 percent of respondents said familiarity with the types of products offered by the company or brand led to satisfaction when visiting a Web site; followed by promotional e-mail(s) from the company (75 percent); recommendations from someone else (74 percent); TV, radio, newspaper or magazine ads (72 percent); results from a search engine and link from a shopping comparison Web site (both 68 percent);

* shoppers driven to a Web site by promotional e-mails are 9 percent more likely to purchase than those driven by traditional advertising;

* 80 percent were most satisfied with the array and availability of merchandise and brand, followed closely by site experience (79 percent) and price (75 percent);

* 58 percent of respondents purchased the merchandise they were shopping for: one-third from the retailer’s Web site, one-fifth from an offline channel from the retailer and one-fifth from a competitor’s Web site;

* customer satisfaction was 8 percent higher for those who purchased via a retailer’s Web site than for those who purchased in-store or through a catalog;

* 56 percent said customer reviews were highly influential in their purchase decisions;

* 57 percent said they were highly likely to use alternative payment options, such as PayPal and Bill Me Later, than credit cards; and

* 16 percent said they would spend more if the alternative payment options were offered.

For more information, go to www.ForeSeeResults.com .