Amazon remains the most popular starting point for online shoppers with one exception: Gen Z, according to a new survey.
Why we care Almost all consumers research online purchases and rely heavily on ratings and reviews. Therefore, it remains absolutely critical to be visible on any relevant platform at the times when shoppers are researching and purchasing products.
By the numbers. Here’s where respondents said they start looking when shopping online:
Amazon: 50%
Google: 31.5%
Retail or brand websites: 14%
Review websites: 2%
Social media: 2%
But. For Gen Z, Google beat Amazon (38% vs. 36%, respectively). Gen Z was also the group most likely to start their shopping journey on social media (5%).
Comments and ratings. Reviews and ratings can make or break a sale more than any other factor, including product price, free shipping, free exchanges and returns, and more.
Overall, 77 percent of respondents said they specifically looked for review websites, and that number was even higher for Gen Z (87 percent) and millennials (81 percent).
56% of respondents consider ratings without accompanying reviews to be unreliable.
Where people read reviews and ratings:
Amazon: 94%
Retail websites (eg Target, Walmart): 91%
Search engines: 70%
Brand websites (the brand that makes the product: 68%
Independent review sites: 40%
User-generated photos and videos gain value. Sixty percent of consumers looked at user-generated images or videos when learning about new products.
77% of respondents said they trust customer photos and videos. 53% said that user-generated photos and videos of past customers influenced their decision to purchase a product.
Google (and search). 56% of consumers consider search results (on Google and other search engines) when making purchasing decisions. Too:
63% of respondents said they use search engine results to learn about products they haven’t bought before. 50% said they trust search engine results when making a purchase decision.
bottom line Amazon remains the go-to product search engine for consumers. And ratings and reviews are king.
About the survey. PowerReviews surveyed 8,153 US consumers in March 2023. It leaned heavily toward millennials, who made up 53% of respondents, followed by Gen X (29%); Baby Boomers (10%) and Generation Z (8%). You can learn more in PowerReviews’ full results: Survey: The Growing Power of Reviews (2023 Edition).
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