Retail / studies

The objective of this study is to map the role of search in the purchasing process of Italian tech and home entertainment products.

• The results show that search is an important part of the customer journey, with over half using search at some point in their journey.
• This increases to nearly two thirds for those that purchase, with this group showing a significantly increased use of search. Widespread use of generic search terms throughout.

PC City – the European computer superstore – increased sales 6% without any additional media expenditure by optimizing its offline and online marketing mix. Google asked DSG International to analyze this accomplishment. We found:

• Optimizing the offline/online media mix increased sales by 6%
• Every Euro invested in paid search delivered €27.48 in offline revenue and €4.68 in online revenue
• 16% of total PC City revenue is exclusively web-driven

This study maps the role of seach in purchasing of apparel in the Spanish retail market

Key findings:

• There are 9.9 million people in the Spanish retail (apparel) market.
• Search is an important part of the customer journey. 3.5m or 36% use search throughout their journey.
• Those who purchase are more likely to use search – over half use search as part of their journey.
• Shoppers using search are 1.6 times more likely to make a purchase than those who do not.
• Generic search terms used by nearly a third of all those getting a quote or purchasing.

Fnac, a leading electronics retailer in Spain, wanted to know how the Internet was affecting the TV purchasing decisions of its in-store shoppers. Google asked Nielsen to help us analyze these shoppers' online behavior. We found:

• 52% of in-store TV purchasers researched their purchase online before buying
• Consumers who researched online before buying spent 33% more on average
• Wanting to see the physical product was the biggest reason for not completing purchase online

The objective of this study was to gain an understanding of what drives Carrefour PC sales in France and analyse the impact of Carrefour's media investment, with a particular focus on online activity.

Key findings

• 1 in 4 of Carrefour's in-store PC sales is driven by marketing and of these, online advertising accounts for two fifths of revenue

• Just under half of the PC sales are driven by marketing.

• Paid search and magazines are the biggest drivers of online PC Sales generated by marketing.

In the summer of 2010, Adidas had the key objective to "win the World Cup‟ in core digital channels that were heavily consumed by the target audience, and to become the most talked about sports brand of the 2010 World Cup. MetrixLab measured the brand impact in the UK:

• 85% of those exposed to the YouTube ads linked Adidas to the World Cup (vs. 79% of those unexposed)
• 65% perceived Adidas to be an innovative brand (vs. 56% of those unexposed)
• When asked, "when you think of the World Cup which brands come to mind?", 52% said Adidas (spontaneous awareness) vs. 41% of those unexposed

Spain's largest department store chain invested in YouTube and experienced these results:

• YouTube delivers incremental net reach over TV
• YouTube was highly effective in delivering against brand KPIs
• YouTube and TV work better together

Clothes shoppers are spending more time–and making more purchases–online. Google and Nielsen explored the role of search in the online apparel purchase process in the retail market of the United Kingdom. We found:

• 57% of apparel shoppers use search
• 62% of online apparel purchasers used generic search terms
• Apparel shoppers who click on sponsored links are 1.7 times more likely to buy

Insights from Google and OTX on what trends emerged during the 2010 holiday shopping season, including:

• 50% of shoppers say they started early to beat the rush
• "Black Friday" searches in 2010 began to rise in July, compared to September in 2007
• Tuesdays are a particularly strong e-commerce shopping day

According to a survey by Google/Ipsos/OTX, in addition to in-store components the shopping experience for millions of people now includes online and mobile elements. Among the survey's findings:

• The Internet is a top source for shopping information for 81% of 2010 holiday shoppers, up from 76% in 2008
• 51% of shoppers say they research online and then buy in-store
• 70% say they've used a smartphone for information while shopping in-store

A survey with OTX found that 55% of American consumers will go back-to-school shopping this year. Of those shopping:

• 49% plan to shop both online & in-store
• A majority of them will begin purchasing in July, with 41% of them buying in August
• Apparel tops the list for back-to-school shopping

What did we learn from the 2009 holiday shopping season, and how do we use it to assess the groundwork for the next one? Google and OTX found:

• 44% of those surveyed had already started holiday shopping by the end of August
• Google searches including the word "coupons" went up 38% during holiday months
• 64% of those surveyed planned to spend the same amount on holiday shopping in 2010 as in 2009