I'm not sure if we needed to have it proved to us more, but a survey for Guidance, conducted by Synovate, of online shoppers found that a variety of discounts was the key determining factor in making purchases online this year. Most of this is related to the continuing uncertainty in the overall economic conditions, where concerns about housing, credit and oil prices continue.
The first, and obvious discount desired by consumers was related to price, where 43 percent of Americans surveyed said it was the most important component of making an online purchase.
"Clearly, the economic climate is driving bargain hunting," Jason Meugniot, Guidance president and CEO, said in a statement. "The Internet has opened a vast new world of low-cost purchase options for online buyers. While the online buying experience has improved markedly in recent years, at the end of the day -- especially a day of financial uncertainty -- price matters."
Another significant percentage of respondents said the next desired discount was in free shipping and promotions, with 18 percent listing that as their most important determinant in buying.
When asked directly what the second most important factor was, 41 percent chose free shipping. The 18 percent I mentioned first was from those asking what the primary factor was; after that respondents were asked the second most important factor in making online decisions to buy - the reason the percentages are different.
The third discount desired by online shoppers was coupons, with 8 percent saying it was their most important factor in making a decision.
How online marketers can help website visitors, is to make it easy for people to find deals, through easy-to-understand navigation and site layout. Once they easily find the deals, from there it's all in the presentation, which is what determines the value in the eye of the viewer.
What may surprise some people, is who makes decisions based on discounts more; and it's not who you think. It's the higher income bracker people that are more concerned with discounts than lower income. It's one of the reasons they're higher income: they watch how they spend.
What also may surprise some, men (46%) make decisions based on pricing more than women (40%), according to the survey.
One finding that shouldn't surprise marketers, is those in younger age groups 18-24 (53%) based decision more on price than those much older 65+(30%).
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