May 8, 2006

Online Shopping Comparison Statistics

Online Shopping Comparison Statistics- Updated May, 2006
Shopping comparison websites are rather new to the search arena, however, have drawn a considerable amount of attention due to their ability to target serious shoppers. Below are some statistics (compiled from many credible resources) that illustrate why shopping comparison sites have gained popularity so quickly.Shopping Comparison Websites: Who uses them and Why!

Who uses them?
• 54.7 million Americans visited comparison shopping sites in October 2005, an increase of 52% from October 2004 (comScore Media Metrix)
• 18% of online consumers use shopping comparison sites(Forrester Research, October 2004)
• 28% of all consumers who buy a product visit a shopping comparison site before they buy (Jupiter Research November 2003)
• 28% of merchants are using shopping sites & 86% found them to be very effective (Forrester Research May 2003)

Why do they use them? (Shopping.com December 2002)
• Comparing Price Quickly 73%
• Comparing Products 53%
• Finding Stores that sell the products they are looking for 45%

Shopping Comparison & Aggregator Websites
Shopping comparison websites are commonly referred to as aggregator sites. Aggregator sites include most search destinations such as search engines, shopping comparison sites, shopping portals, and auction sites. A study conducted by BizRate in 2005 revealed that 59% of online shoppers begin their searches on aggregator sites rather than directly on a merchant site. Below is a summary of aggregator market share:

Aggregator Market Share (BizRate Research 2005)
• 54% search engines
• 24 % shopping comparisons sites
• 14 % auction sites
• 8% shopping portals

Top 5 Shopping Comparison Sites by Unique Visitors (comScore Media Metrix October 2005)
Shopping.com Sites 19,093,000
Shopzilla.com Sites 18,536,000
Yahoo! Shopping 13,590,000
Nextag.com Sites 9,358,000
ShopLocal.com Sites 5,950,000

Shopping Comparison Players by Market Share (Hitwise November, 2005)

Rank Name Market Share
1 Shopping.com 18.38%
2 BizRate.com 17.35%
3 Yahoo! Shopping 14.39%
4 Shopzilla 13.60%
5 Froogle 8.49%
6 NexTag 7.83%
7 PriceGrabber.com 5.81%
8 Epinions.com 5.75%
9 Calibex.com 4.63%
10 MSN eShop 3.76%

Shopping Comparison and the Stage in the Buying Cycle (TMA E-Marketing 2005)
When deciding on which online vehicles to use, looking at which stage of the buying cycle your audience is in can have a huge payoff. As this graph demonstrates, shopping comparison websites likely attract consumers who are in a later stage of the buying cycle

Merchant Advantages
• Fast updating of merchant information Example- Prices
• Shopping Datafeed's can be optimized for superior product placement visibility
• Offers high conversion rates, 5-6% typical Consumer
• Consumers can find EXACTLY what they are looking for
• Consumers can easily compare prices and/or features