Over a third (38%) of online retail sales to new customers begin with clicks from organic or paid search results, according to a report by Forrester Research published in late September.
Despite the changing interactive marketing environment and the rising number of buyers accessing content via their mobile and tablet devices, key features of web marketing such as search and e-mail continue to be effective, Forrester analyst Sucharita Mulpuru commented.
Partnering with GSI Commerce, Forrester looked into what platforms buyers touch to complete an online transaction. The study examined 77,000 consumer orders made over a two-week period in April 2012. According to the findings, nearly half (48%) of repeat customers accessed multiple “trackable touchpoints”, including paid and organic search engine results, display ads and e-mail. New customers are also influenced by multiple platforms, with 33% of transactions from new customers involving more than one “trackable touchpoint”.
The report further revealed that 30% of transactions by repeat buyers start with an e-mail from the retailer and another 30% of repeat shoppers type the retailer’s URL directly into a browser, which underscores the importance of having a memorable brand name or Internet address.
According to the survey, 48% of consumers view social media channels as highly effective for discovering new brands, products, trends and retailers. However, less than 1% of online sales originate from trackable social links.