Website has big impact on Japanese shoppers

Netratings Japan’s survey against online shoppers in Japan shows that Website has the biggest impact on shoppers by far* throughout the purchasing process. It also shows that of those who visited websites during the purchasing process, the ones who took some type of actions on the site (registering for newsletters, signing up for prize, etc.) have more interests in products and/or services offered at the site, and more likely to purchase the products/services offered.

*Sample research results: Purchasing process for credit card service

1. The first exposure to the products/services

- Website (41%), TV (20%), Store (13%), Printed ads (7%), Friends/family (6%)

2. Comparing the services/products

- Website (69%), Store (6%), Friends/family (5%), Printed ads (3%)

3. Purchasing decision

- Website (59%), Store (14%), Friends/family (7%), Printed ads (5%)

I think this survey results show that even when people make the final purchasing action off-line, the information they gathered on websites has the biggest impact to the decision making process.