Internet users are good customers…offline!

March 19, 2001
This is the result of a joint survey concerning American Internet consumers conducted by Roper Starch Worldwide and Yahoo! Internet Life.

According to this survey, online shoppers are generally better "brick-and-mortar" consumers than those who do not use the Internet. This is another element in favour of the online/offline synergies:

- 74% of Internet consumers visit department stores (compared to 61% of offline consumers).

- 51% of Internet users visit clothing stores (compared to 37% of offline consumers).

- 40% of Internet consumers visit hardware stores (compared to 30% of offline consumers).

- 38% of Internet users visit video stores (compared to 23% of offline consumers).

- 36% of Internet consumers visit bookstores (compared to 16% of offline consumers).

It's quite understandable that more Internet consumers go to hardware stores than offline consumers, but the gap of nearly 20% that can be seen on the cultural level (video stores and bookstores) proves more interesting. Indeed, the last factor indicates that even though the multimedia achieved an important role in the life of American people, Internet users still appreciate books and particularly like to flick through the pages before they buy them. This proves once again that it is not that easy to modify the way consumers behave on the Internet.

And yet, please use these figures with caution. Indeed, Internet users have a household income much higher than average, and this factor influences the fact they visit stores more often, whether these stores are off or on line.

Source : Chicago Tribune