comScore qSearch Retail Measures Search Behavior and Consumer Spending
comScore Networks has launched qSearch Retail which measures the impact of search behavior on consumer spending online and across retail channels, including in-store, catalog and phone purchases. From their news release:
Companies typically have access to incomplete information when attempting to understand the impact of consumers’ Web searches, often focusing only on direct online conversions (which occur at the time of search, known as ‘same session’ purchases) to calculate the impact of search on their bottom line. comScore studies conducted during the past two years across multiple retail categories shows that this approach greatly underestimates the value and impact of search. In fact, direct online conversions typically account for no more than five to 20 percent of all search-related purchases, depending upon product category, although some categories show higher conversion levels. For all but a few categories, the majority of conversions occur offline — anywhere from 60 to 90 percent — with the remainder occurring in latent online transactions (typically between 10 and 35 percent). As these numbers show, the results vary widely and are highly category-specific, which underscores the need for granular category-level multi-channel search data.
“comScore is pleased to be able to assist multi-channel retailers in understanding the full impact of Web search on their bottom line,” said John Miniati, vice president of comScore Networks. “It’s increasingly clear that consumers who search for products online will often visit brick-and-mortar locations to complete their purchase. In today’s economy, retailers who offer both a strong online and strong offline presence have a distinct advantage.”
qSearch Retail is a quarterly analysis that uses comScore’s qSearch methodology of observing consumer Web search at major engines, including search ad impression exposures and click activity. qSearch Retail is based on the comScore Global Network, which continuously and confidentially captures the complete Internet activity — including search engine queries and purchases — of a representative cross-section of more than 2 million global Internet users. qSearch Retail(TM) also leverages comScore’s proven online survey research techniques and matches survey responses with behavioral data.
