If you want to attract gaggles of gift-givers to your site, remember these three words: Offer free shipping.
Online holiday-gift shoppers overwhelmingly consider free shipping an important enticement in making purchases, with discounts and free return policies also key considerations, according to a survey released yesterday by Yahoo! Small Business and Harris Interactive.
Ninety percent of participants in the survey said free shipping would draw them to a site, followed by online discounts (69 percent), free or "no-hassle" return policies, (64 percent), free gift wrapping (27 percent) and finally gift certificates (24 percent).
Some of the results echo what we've seen in recent studies — nearly a third of holiday shoppers said that they would do half or more of their holiday shopping online, and that they expect secure check-out and sites that are easy to navigate.
However, the Yahoo!/Harris report offers some encouraging findings for small shop owners. For example, nearly two-thirds (63 percent) said online specialty, "niche," or boutique retailers are one of the "best places" to shop for unusual or hard-to-find gifts. Furthermore, 75 percent said they are likely to purchase gifts online from small businesses.
In regard to marketing, the old stalwart, word-of-mouth, still rules, according to the study. Most shoppers said recommendations from friends and family (60 percent) and search engines (57 percent) are top influencers in identifying small online businesses for holiday gift buying.
Other important influencers include advertising on radio, in newspapers and on television (28 percent), online banner or display advertising (10 percent), blogs and "social media" Web sites such as video sharing and social networking (6 percent).
Finally, one-fifth (20 percent) of online holiday shoppers said they will buy presents online while at work. Men are somewhat more likely to shop while on the job, with nearly one out of four (24 percent) saying they would do so, compared to 17 percent of women. In addition, younger workers are more likely to do purchase presents while on the clock. According to the survey, one-fourth (26 percent) of those age 18 to 44 said they would shop online at work, compared to 13 percent of those age 45 and older.
Michelle Megna is managing editor of ECommerce-Guide.com.
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