According to research, 81% of shoppers rate convenience as a prime consideration when making a purchase on-line with only 33% saying price savings were more important. 59% of the shoppers surveyed demonstrated a loyalty to those sites making it easy for them to make purchases and said that they tend to return to a handful of sites that they find familiar and easy to use.

The analyst responsible for the report published by internet research group Gartner, David Schehr, cautioned that the results do not mean that price is not still a fundamental consideration in the consumer’s mind but that “on-line merchants should focus their energy on getting the customer in and out of the site as quickly as possible.” This is reinforced by the figures showing that just 2% of consumers said price alone is an important consideration, 49% saying convenience alone was important and 30% said both factors together were equally important considerations.

Businesses can push the convenience of their site, Schehr said, by sending marketing messages “that focus on on-line buyers feelings of being time constrained,” and by using messages and design elements that tie price to convenience benefits.

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