How long does it take you to decide to buy something?
According to a new study by NetElixir, over the holidays the time it took for a woman to go from her first website visit to a purchase of fashion or jewelry was 3.08 days. That had declined from 6.17 days before the holidays.
Sometimes it takes me longer than three days to buy soap.
I like to do some research before I buy. That means I check multiple websites, sometimes over several days. And sometimes I never buy, even if I've put something in a cart.
Another interesting finding is that 70% of online shoppers buy only once from ecommerce sites. I would be in that group since whenever I can, I go directly to the makers website in order to cut out the middle men, including Amazon. (Schultz, 2022)
Amazon Prime members spend $1,968 per year on average. Non-prime members spend a quarter of that. Presumably because they are making their remaining purchases elsewhere.
How long does it take for you to purchase something online after your first website visit? Does it vary by category or time of year?
Do you visit multiple sites before you decide or do you go directly to Amazon?
How often do you abandon your cart, and why? Do follow-up emails affect your behavior? Re-targeting? What would?
Schultz, R. (February 25, 2022) Ecommece Habitues: Women Are Taking Less Time From First Visit To Purchase. Retrieved March 1, 2021, from
Bain, M. (2021, May 3) Prime has never been more important to Amazon. Retrieved March 1, 2022, from
https://qz.com/2004369/the-pandemic-made-prime-even-more-valuable-to-amazon/
8 comments:
I tend to take a fairly long time when it comes to making purchasing decisions. I like to shop around on different websites to see where I can get the best price and the best shipping costs. Often, I will have spent the least time in choosing the specific product but the most time in deciding which website to purchase that from. I am an Amazon prime user because there is something to be said for when something can be shipped in 1 day versus 5-7 business days with a shipping fee if it is from the direct website. I try to use Amazon less, but when I need a product fast and inexpensively, it is the way to go. Additionally, let's say an item of clothing I want could be purchased from the company site but it is also on a site such as Macy's and I can collect points or rewards from using Macy's, I would do that.
I strongly dislike the emails from companies about leaving something in my cart or if they saw that I browsed a certain product and then decided to exit the site. Clearly, there was a reason I chose to abandon a purchase or choose to not put anything in my cart at all. It is just extra emails in my inbox to delete and I may even be bothered that the company is pushing me like that.
Shohei Ishikawa
When I make my purchase, I do not take much time until I decide. I believe that there are many concerns throughout the online shopping experience. However, the only thing we can really do is look for better pictures or reviews. Therefore, I usually follow my instinct and reviews. Also, I am an Amazon Prime user, and the main reason I use Amazon is that I am too lazy to look for the same product in a different website unless I already know the original website. I believe it is similar to what we did last week, paying money for time. My purchase time does not change much through the year, but I tend to buy things quicker when I am on vacation or during celebration season.
In Amazon, I often abandon my cart because of several reasons. The first thing is that I forget that I put something in the cart because I am distracted by something else. The other reason would be that I am still considering buying it, but I do not want to think about it now, so I just leave it there. Personally, I do not care or pay attention to any of the catch-up emails because it is not really important. So if I consider it and leave them in the cart, that means the goods are not important to me.
The time I spend shopping online is dependent on what I get. Most of my online purchases happen quickly, but there are times when I put something in a shopping cart and don’t get it for a few weeks or months. I like to do most of my shopping in person, and when I get stuff online, it’s because I needed quickly or can’t get it in person easily.
Unfortunately, I can confidently say that a bulk of online shopping goes through amazon. I hate that fact, but it’s just they make it so easy. But it’s mainly for things I need around the house like Swiffer replacements or a shower caddy.
I rarely abandon my cart because I’m always shopping for a purpose when I shop online. Occasionally I’ll abandon an amazon cart because I’m unsure if I need the item. Or I’ll attempt to find it somewhere cheaper or in person. I do tend to go back and take items out of the save for later sections. Follow-up emails would not make much of a difference for me. I do find the list at the bottom of my cart helpful for things I may need again. I also like when websites remind me of a product I looked at the last time I was on their site.
I can have impulsive purchases during times when I see a product or service that appeals to me on the street. Those purchases are usually not things that I really need. However; I tend to be very indecisive and a huge over-thinker when it comes to purchasing things online. I like to read and watch reviews about products or services I want to purchase, ask friends and family who have tried them and even go to physical shops to try my size before I make any purchases. Thus, I try to make sure that I eliminate all the factors that could cause me to be disappointed in what I purchase.
While the duration of me decision process does not vary by product, I can say it takes a long time for me to buy things unless they are necessary or urgent. Other than apparels, I usually get most of my home and beauty goods from big brands such as Sephora, Amazon or Trendyol which is a Turkish brand similar to Amazon. It is the ads and recommendations in their websites that cause me to make impulsive purchases as some products that I was not initially looking for tend to be very appealing in that moment. However, I often find myself window shopping or adding things in my basket that I end up forgetting about. In such cases, I find the follow up e-mails to be useful reminders. On the other hand, to many e-mails and promotion messages can be very disturbing causing me to unsubscribe from most of my mailing list subscriptions from brands.
I am probably the worst shopper . I do take a while to decide on what I want, I read reviews , and weigh the bad ones to see if they are really that bad or just a picky person. I put things in my cart then check other sites to see if it’s cheaper before I buy it. I also do a lot of shopping for my job, so as much as I hate it in my personal life , for work I take it very seriously , I have a budget to maintain so I Amy very careful with the cost of my items. I am prime member and even though I try not to give Amazon most of my business, they tend to win most of the time on availability, speed of delivery and price. Depending on how quickly I need the item , I usually sit on it for about a week before I pull the trigger. If it’s urgent maybe 2 hrs jumping around on different sites to find it. For clothes definitely a week , I have left things in the Jcrew basket and lost it after a few days from the item being sold out. Same thing happens for Christmas , I notoriously wait until a week before Christmas to shop, I tend to make faster decisions then because time has now run out.
I abandon cart quite often, I get side tracked, or find it cheaper elsewhere. Sometimes the follow up emails bring me back, especially if I genuinely forgot. A discount code or free shipping can also bring me back to finish shopping.
Honestly these days it takes a while for me to buy something. I hate in-person shopping and I hate waiting when it comes to shopping. I really enjoy online shopping because it's very quick and easy. You really don't need to wait in line or worry about looking for your size. I make a budget of things I am shopping for and I hate it when I buy something that isn't worth the price. The number one thing I always do is read the reviews of the products I am buying online just to see what others are thinking about. Also, I watch the reviews on YouTube or look up the brand online. I bought products that people raved about on social media platforms. Sometimes I do abandon my carts because I really don't need them. One of the biggest things I hate and will stop shopping from is when I receive emails from businesses informing me that I had left something in my cart or when a site pops up on another website as an Ad. I easily lose track of time when it comes to online shopping, but when I don't have time I just stop by the store near me. Since I get distracted easily sometimes I forget what I want in the first place. Most of the time I repurchase items instead of looking for a new one.
I am typically a “slow shopper.” Although, that would be a constrictive way to label myself as I take my time with purchases because I simply like to do a lot of research as well. With the oversaturation of products and services there are today and that are being marketed to us constantly, I find it easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of options. I believe my feeling scatterbrained because of this is what contributes to my need to research various ecommerce websites and company websites. I will usually have 5 or more tabs open.
Not only do I look for where to get the best price and overall deal for a product, with shipping and fees as well, but I try to seek out the ecommerce site or the company that holds the best reviews even if it may be for the same product. Along with this, I do try to pick a website that will offer me the fastest shipping. Sometimes I am lenient with that and do not care as much as long as I get my product in good condition. However, in cases where I will need something urgently, this is an element that I will look more assertively for but in most cases, I go directly to Amazon as I feel most secure with their fast shipping times. Most importantly, I research when I can get the best deal for a product if not at the present time, and this can have me merely thinking about a product, leave it on my bucket list or in my shopping carts, and not even purchase it for days, weeks, and maybe even months. Additionally, I will take time to find and then shop through sellers that I can earn rewards and future discounts or deals from.
During the holiday season, for instance, like the woman in the study by NetElixir, my duration between first visiting a website then making a purchase most certainly declines because I, like others, are more pressed for time (especially for those of us that procrastinate) and are inclined to get all of our gifts and everything that we need before things sell out.
Because of my need to research and to seek out the perfect time to purchase the perfect product from the perfect seller, I will abandon my carts all the time. I feel the need to ruminate on my shopping choices and will even dwell on potential post-purchase dissonance… before even making any purchases. Follow-up emails can be bothersome as they almost translate as spam among all other emails. However, occasionally I will find myself close to being drawn back to my cart on a website because of a follow-up email, but I never do go back. Informing me that what is in my cart is about to go out of stock is another measure that will affect my behavior and nudge me to make the purchase.
- Nomi Q.
I want to begin by adding some remarks regarding the statement that it took a woman 3 days to make a purchase on an online website during the holidays- compared to 6 days when it’s not the holiday season. It is evident that Christmas and Thanksgiving have become a commercialized holidays and have become a routine for most Americans to wait almost a full year before purchasing any technology, furniture, or gifts because of the good deals/discount codes they anticipate receiving each year.
When purchasing something online, I usually know what I want upon visiting a website. I don’t add items to my cart or browse through a website unless I intend to make a purchase that same day. The only exception is items that I don’t need but rather want- for example, makeup. Sephora is the only store where I have items waiting to be purchased, and the reason for that is because I know that they will, be having an upcoming sale on April 1st.
I only shop on Amazon when I need to purchase necessities or items where I would not know what specific website to buy it from. Additionally, I recently watched a video on Tik Tok that discussed how if you leave an item in your Amazon cart for a long time, you’ll end up getting an email from Amazon informing you that the item in your cart has now been discounted as an incentive to buy the product.
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