CorpComms Magazine

Nearly four out of five consumers said that social networks had no influence on their Christmas shopping decisions while 55 per cent value advice given by friends, a new survey has revealed.

The Baynote Holiday Online Shopping Experience Survey, which polled more than 1,000 online shoppers in America, found that fewer than nine per cent of consumers bought something from a retailer's Facebook page and awarded that experience a C+. More than one in five shoppers were concerned about Facebook's privacy controls.

However, one in five shoppers did admit making a purchase on an e-commerce site after spotting promotional activity on Facebook.

The survey found that 84 per cent of consumers rated their online shopping experience as 'good' or 'excellent', up from 78 per cent in 2010, citing smooth check out facilities, effective navigation and search tools, informative user reviews and comments and personalised product recommendations as important attributes for e-commerce sites.

Indeed, 93 per cent of consumers said that they were impressed with retailers that personalised their shopping experience, including the introduction of recommendations, on websites, and 57 per cent said that they had bought products on the basis of these.

Just under half (49 per cent) used tablets to make purchases, but nearly six in ten expect to use this channel for shopping and researching products this year. Only 21 per cent of shoppers expect to use their mobile phones for online purchases.

Anurag Wadehra, chief marketing officer for Baynote, which provides bespoke intent-based personalised solutions for retailers, said: 'While social, mobile and tablet all have tremendous potential, retailers need to improve the customer shopping experience across these new channels.'

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