Since the start of the holiday shopping season, online shoppers have bought more
products than last year, but have been spending less money, a marketing services
company said Friday.
In analyzing transaction data from its online-retail clients, Double Click Inc.
found that 64.6 percent of the goods placed in shopping carts were purchased,
compared with a conversion rate of 57 percent during the same period last year,
which is from the Friday after Thanksgiving Day to Thursday of the following week.
In addition, people were less likely to abandon their shopping carts, with
abandonment rates dropping to 55 percent from 62 percent, said the New York-based
company, which analyzes an average of 2 billion transactions a quarter.
"People are just in the market to buy," Kathryn Koegel, director
of research and industry development for DoubleClick, said.
Despite the eagerness to purchase dad that tie hell never wear, shoppers spent
less on average than in the first week of holiday shopping last year, with the
typical value of an order falling 15 percent, to $124.94 from $146.36, DoubleClick
said.
Koegel did not have any data indicating why shoppers were stingier this year,
but agreed that higher gas and food prices may have contributed to people looking
for less-expensive items.
"Im not really certain," Koegel said. "Its all supposition
at this point."
There was more shopping activity online this year than last, with the percent
of all visits resulting in an item being placed in a shopping cart rising to
12.9 percent, from 10.5 percent, DoubleClick found. People frequently place
an item in a cart, then visit other sites for a cheaper price.
Shoppers also used search engines more to find items. The volume of clicks
on keywords purchased by DoubleClick clients rose 85 percent from the third
quarter of 2004, with the percentage of clicks leading to a purchase increasing
by 266 percent. DoubleClick did not analyze search data last year.
DoubleClick plans one more holiday shopping report, to be published in January.
The company provides online marketing and analytical services to advertising
agencies, marketers, and Web publishers.
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