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The worse things get, the more some consumers will shop online
 

InternetRetailer.com - January 30, 2009

Financial pain may mean web merchants will gain, at least with some consumers. 26% of consumers surveyed this month say they will shop more online if their personal financial situation worsens in the next year.
“They see online as part of the solution to the challenges they face right now,” says Mark Kirschner, chief marketing officer at affiliate marketing company LinkShare Corp., which sponsored the survey. The survey of 800 consumers who have shopped online in the past year was conducted Jan. 4-5 by market research and consulting firm Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates.

The consumers who would shop more if their finances deteriorated—a group LinkShare and PSB dub “recession shoppers”—are already heavy Internet users. For instance, they are 17 percentage points more likely to research products or services online several times a week than the average consumer surveyed. They are also the most likely group to bank online, as 59% of that group bank via the web. That may be related to their penchant for saving money, says PSB vice president David Ginsberg.

The survey suggests that both frequent online shoppers and the so-called recession shoppers are receptive to promotions. 68% of recession shoppers and 79% of weekly web shoppers said they had purchased something online they wouldn’t have otherwise because of a coupon or discount, and 64% of recession shoppers and 70% of weekly shoppers said a coupon or discount prompted them to make a purchase from an online retailer they otherwise wouldn’t have bought from.

Speaking of the recession shoppers, Ginsberg says, “This is a group that’s already conducting a tremendous amount of research online. There’s just one last step to get them to purchase, and coupons are a tremendous way to reach out to them.”

Recession shoppers tend not to be affluent: their average household income is $63,000 compared with $77,000 for those who shop online every week. 56% are under 45 and 56% lack a college degree, according to the study.

But they are likely to be shopping online this year. 21% of recession shoppers and 18% of weekly shoppers plan to purchase more apparel online in 2009 than in the past, compared with 1% of all those surveyed. In the computers and electronics category, 11% of recession shoppers and 17% of weekly shoppers say they will buy more online this year, while the average shoppers’ purchasing will be flat. The category most likely to suffer this year, the survey suggests, is jewelry—14% of all those surveyed say they plan to purchase less online in this category, including 7% of weekly shoppers and 12% of recession shoppers.