Average Time from First Visit to Purchase (DMA: 5/27/05)
The shopping behavior of more than eight million consumers in survey data who visited 140 Web sites between June 2004 and March 2005)
- 50% took more than 1 hour
- 40% took more than 3 hours
- 35% took more than 12 hours
- 28% took more than 1 day
- 21% took more than 3 days
- 14% took more than 1 week
- 4% took more than 2 weeks
The average time delay between a consumer’s first visit to a Web site and their first purchase was just over 19 hours. The delay varied from site to site depending on customer demographics, brand recognition, the number of competitors online, and average product price.
The return-to-buy decision seems to be based on two general categories:
1. Price and Availability
- Is the model/color/design I prefer available?
- How much is shipping?
- How does the total amount compare to other sites?
2. Safety and Trust
- Do I trust this company?
- Will it send me the product quickly – or at all?
- Will it honor returns and warranty problems?
- Do I feel secure giving my credit card and personal information?
Findings regarding shopping behavior point to both motivators and barriers to online shopping. For those who comparison-shop the most, trust factors can act as strong motivators when present. Conversely, they can also be strong barriers when absent.
As cautious shoppers are more worried about online shopping security, they are thus more responsive to the appearance of security certification marks or seals on sites. While a “Hacker Safe” certification mark increased sales among all groups, its effectiveness particularly increased as the time-to-buy rose.
Armed with this new understanding, site designers need to make the shopping experience more informative, and the sense of safety more “memorable,” to dissuade consumers from abandoning shopping carts at purchase time. Shopping cart abandonment is simply the act of moving on to the next comparison. Carts must therefore become convenient shopping tools – encouraging shoppers to return and buy. Saved search functionality where returning purchasers can easily pick up where they left off is critical to saving more of these types of purchases.
Source: APPLES TO ORANGES: Understanding the Comparison Shopping Habits of Online Consumers (Ken Leonard, CEO of ScanAlert)