Consumers Thinking Long and Hard Before Purchasing Online, Study Finds

Consumers are taking longer to make purchases online because they're doing more and more research on products, according to a new study released today from customer acquisition firm NetElixir.

The study is based on continuing research from 2008 on paid search programs for 32 large retailers. Since 2008, the time between the first click on a paid search ad and purchase has increased 12 percent. The average number of clicks on a paid search ad before an actual purchase has gone from 2.7 to 3.1. What's more, 52 percent of searchers, compared to 30 percent two years ago, have visited another site before making the purchase.