CorpComms Magazine

Just three per cent of online shoppers are prompted by recommendations via social media, while one in ten are influenced by promotional emails, according to a new survey.

The survey of UK shoppers by ForeSee Results, a Michigan-based company that collects 'Voice of Customer' results, found that brand loyalty and familiarity drives almost half (46 per cent) of all visits to e-tail sites.

Advertisements on television, radio or print media drive eight per cent of visits while search engine results account for 13 per cent.

The survey found that one in ten online shoppers are influenced by word of mouth recommendations from friends or acquaintances but just one per cent would be influenced by a message or recommendation on a friend's social network.

Indeed, Internet blogs or discussion forums, videos on YouTube, advertising on social networks or direct messages from companies on a social network each account for just one per cent of all visits to online retailers.

The survey found that familiarity with a brand, promotional emails and recommendations from friends are more likely to influence purchases online, awarding each 'influence' a score of 75 out of 100.

These customers are also more likely to be satisfied with their purchases and likely to recommend the online retailer. Direct messages from companies on a social network site score least well with customers.

Just over six out of ten customers prefer to hear about sales and promotions via email, making it by far the most popular communications channel. The second preferred route is a company website, which scored just 16 per cent.

The scores are based on a survey of visitors to the top 40 online retailers' websites in the UK. Larry Freed, president of ForeSee Results, said: 'Each individual retailer is likely to have a different picture of which acquisition sources drive the most traffic and which drive the best traffic.

'Search engine results and promotional emails are delivering tremendous bang for the buck because both sources are driving high quantity and high quality. Social media has yet to blow me away as a driver of website traffic, store traffic or sales.'

But nearly two thirds (61 per cent) of online shoppers in the UK regularly visit Facebook, while ten per cent use Twitter and 27 per cent use YouTube.

While 58 per cent of respondents said that social media would not be the first choice for receiving communications from retailers, 33 per cent cited Facebook and two per cent highlighted Twitter as their preferred channel.

www.foreseeresults.com

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