Consumers plan their Christmas shopping early, which should come as no surprise. But for retailers out there running websites, placing ads, and interacting on social media, this chart might come as a surprise.
Online shoppers responded to this poll in July 2015 asking about how they planned to research Christmas shopping in the upcoming year. That 62% choose search engines is certainly logical. But it’s that second response – e-commerce sites – that has really changed the game. That means that consumers are going to Amazon for research, even if they aren’t planning to purchase from the company. Facebook, blogs, and review sites bring up the rear.
Amazon doesn’t just want to own categories of retail – the company wants to own how customers get information about products.
This trend will continue to develop.