Survey: Online shoppers seek research content

The overwhelming majority of online shoppers always or often interact with product recommendations.

According to a new survey of online consumers from cloud-based CRM technology provider Lucidworks, 85% of respondents interact with product recommendations always or often, and 67% of respondents say they buy recommended items they didn’t initially plan on buying every visit or often. Eight in 10 (81%) respondents research always or often before making a purchase.

Close to seven in 10 respondents (68%) like to do research via reviews on the brand’s website where they’ll be purchasing from, and half of respondents research via branded content on the website they’ll be purchasing from. However, almost half of respondents perform research using third-party marketplaces like Amazon, Google Shopping, and eBay.

The survey of U.S. consumers who shop online at least once a week also indicates that regular e-commerce users have become comfortable with Internet retailing during the pandemic. Two-thirds of respondents plan to either avoid in-person shopping as much as possible or visit physical stores less often than before COVID-19.

The survey also examined consumer attitudes toward chatbots. Seventy percent of respondents said they use a site’s chatbot every visit or often, and almost two-thirds (64%) say they would like to use the chatbot for support finding specific products, while 59% say they would like to check product compatibility or get additional product information. 

Lucidworks surveyed 400 U.S. consumers who shop online at least once a week.