WASHINGTON — More than half of U.S. consumers head to Amazon first when looking to purchase a product online, but Amazon doesn’t always get the sale.
The personalization platform company BloomReach says 55 percent of consumers now turn to Amazon for their first search online, up from 53 percent six months ago.
While Amazon has gained ground in first search, search engines and retailers have lost ground, coming in at 28 percent and 16 percent respectively.
Amazon has increased its share of first search by 11 percent since BloomReach’s first survey a year ago.
The study says Amazon is often involved in almost all online shopping activities, with 9 in 10 consumers checking Amazon even if they find a product they want on another retailer’s site.
But comparison shopping also works against Amazon, with 70 percent of consumers saying they’ll check other retail sites.
“While online retailers increasingly feel the punch, each engine still plays an integral part of an e-commerce strategy,” said BloomReach head of marketing Jason Seeba. “This study highlights that just because consumers start on Amazon, that doesn’t mean they ultimately buy from Amazon. Instead, they’re often comparing and researching products on search engines and other retailers,” he said.
More of our searching and shopping is done in the palms of our hands. Mobile devices are now driving more than half of all traffic to top sites, and has grown to 30 percent of all U.S. e-commerce.
BloomReach says 76 percent of consumers now shop on their smartphones, with 90 percent of them reporting that they’ve made a purchase on one.
BloomReach surveyed 2,000 U.S. consumers over the Labor Day weekend for its study.
