Only 27 per cent of shoppers go directly to a merchant’s website
when shopping online. But according to research commissioned by
Quidco, an online cash-back cooperative, and carried out by
YouGov, 62 per cent of web shoppers consult online communities
such as price-comparison and review websites before making a
purchase.
When asked which factors encouraged them to use third-party
sites for shopping information, consumers’ top three answers were
that they offer unbiased facts about products and services (32
per cent), the communities’ views were more trustworthy than the
merchants’ (27 per cent) and the communities helped them to find
the best deal (also 27 per cent).
As a testament to how popular third-party community sites have
become, Quidco said that in April 2008 alone, its site recorded
360,000 transactions-more than double the number achieved the
previous April-which generated £10.7 million for its
retailing partners.
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