Shoppers Favor Search Engines Over Ads


Online shoppers are nearly three times more likely to find what they want on the Web by using search engines versus responding to advertisements according to a survey conducted by Internet financial transaction firm WorldPay. The most popular goods and services purchased online are CDs/videos/DVDs (purchased by 72 percent of respondents), books (61 percent), travel (52 percent) and Internet/computer (50 percent).


The survey — the first by WorldPay of its customers — was conducted from September through the first week of February, eliciting responses from 15,235 online shoppers in 124 countries. All respondents made purchases from e-retailers using the Sterling, Va.-based WorldPay, which provides multiple language, multi-currency support for e-commerce transactions.


“Though analysts’ estimates on the future value of global ecommerce vary from between $5 trillion to $8 trillion over the next several years, no one disputes that growth will be prodigious,” said David Talley, WorldPay’s vice president – Americas. “With so much at stake for companies entering the global e-commerce arena, we believe the WorldPay survey is a good start toward improved understanding of shopper attitudes, concerns, and motivation.”


Other key findings included:

  • A majority of shoppers (66 percent)) said they do not have concerns about buying from overseas web sites;
  • A majority (58 percent) expects to increase online spending in the next year, while 39 percent expect online spending to remain the same, and 2 percent plan to reduce it; and
  • On a scale of 1 to 5, key factors determining a decision to buy online are: secure environment (89 percent of respondents); language (69 percent); delivery speed (67 percent); customer service (61 percent); price (59 percent); and the ability to shop in one’s own currency (53 percent).

  • WorldPay supports more than 14,000 online merchants in 115 countries, allowing them to tap markets beyond their borders. The privately-held company was founded in 1993 and its shareholders include NatWest Bank Plc. and Energis Plc. WorldDirect, WorldPay’s multi-currency payment system, is integrated to most of the leading e-commerce store-building applications, including its own Click and Build. Other WorldPay services include repeat billing solution FuturePay.

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