What consumers revealed to us about their shopping experiences on Amazon, and why brands can benefit from an Amazon presence.
We recently conducted a survey to get a clearer sense of what consumers find so attractive about the Amazon shopping experience. We wanted to know why, in some instances, shoppers are purchasing from Amazon – rather than a brand’s own ecommerce site. And why many consumers are willing to give new, previously unheard of, brands a chance when they discover their products on Amazon.
The survey, which polled over 1,000 US consumers across a range of ages and genders, generated some surprising insights and suggested some interesting pointers for brands looking to expand into new ecommerce channels.
Probably the most interesting finding is that many consumers are using Amazon as a browsing destination and, because they trust Amazon as a company, are willing to try new brands they discover offering the products they want. It was also interesting to see just how powerful a factor the Amazon Prime Membership is in keeping shoppers locked-in on the site, choosing to purchase from Amazon, rather than directly from other distributors – even if it was not cheaper to do so.
Ultimately, the findings confirm for us why it’s so important to have an optimized presence on Amazon, especially if your brand is not yet a household name. Having a robust store front on Amazon will expose your product inventory to new consumers while letting you leverage the advantages of the overall Amazon customer experience to supplement your sales.
Below are some of the highlights from our Amazon survey. Take a look and see why so many consumers continue to consider this online retailer their one-stop-shop for online product buys.
Benefits of shopping Amazon vs a brand DTC website
- 44% of respondents claim the chief reason they’ll shop on Amazon over a brand’s own website is because of free and fast delivery with Prime membership.
- When asked about buying from Amazon or directly from a brand’s site, nearly half (47%) said they would buy from Amazon and use Prime to save on shipping costs. While 42% said they would compare the total cost (including shipping) from both before making a purchasing decision.
- If a product is available for less money on a brand’s website, 20% claimed they would still buy from Amazon because it’s easier than setting up a new account on a brand’s website, and 10% said they would use Prime to guarantee fast delivery.
Consumers are using Amazon for product discovery
- Many shoppers use Amazon as a way to discover new brands – large and small. With 87% of consumers saying they’ve purchased a product from a brand they’ve never tried before – and 35% using Amazon to discover new brands, even if they’re small.
- 80% of respondents check out “similar items” and “others also bought” items that Amazon displays for them.
- When asked about product advertising on Amazon, 34% of respondents said they ignore ads on Amazon, and 18% even say they find them to be a bother.
What influences purchasing decisions?
- A majority of shoppers surveyed still do their due diligence when purchasing on Amazon. Nearly one-third (27%) look at a seller’s website before they buy if they’re unfamiliar with them, and 24% will check to see if the seller is selling cheaper directly from their site.
- More than half of consumers say it doesn’t affect their purchase decision whether a product is ‘Fulfilled by Amazon’ or ‘Fulfilled by Merchant’, with 29% claiming they don’t care one way or the other – as long as delivery is guaranteed.
- Almost two-thirds (61%) of respondents claim that multiple images of the product is what helps them the most while shopping on Amazon.
Amazon as a browsing destination, not search experience
The indication is that brands don’t necessarily need to be well known, because consumers use Amazon as a destination to ‘window shop’ and browse, not just somewhere to go when you know exactly what you need and are trying to find it cheaply and quickly. Also, despite claiming not to be swayed by ads, consumers will click through to related items to continue browsing and that ultimately they are swayed by rich shopping experiences and fast and free delivery – indicating that brands who ensure comprehensive content and optimized Amazon store can succeed even if they are not an established brand.
We’ll be publishing the full research in a whitepaper shortly, so stayed tuned.
