34% of Consumers Would Never Purchase a Product via Facebook

Oracle Retail recently spearheaded a survey to examine consumers’ perceptions of their experience when they shop across different retail channels. It included a look at these two questions:

“How do consumers use multiple channels to shop and what are their priorities when they enter a store, go online or call a retailer to place an order? How are consumers using social media as another retail channel and what do they expect from retailers here?”

Among the survey’s findings was that 54 percent of consumers utilize at least two channels before making a purchase. Three-quarters of consumers said they go to the store to see products before purchasing them, while 44 percent go to the store to buy a product when they need it right away.

Regarding Facebook, Oracle posed this question to respondents: “Have you purchased a product via a retailer’s Facebook page?” Nearly a third, or 32 percent, of respondents said they don’t use Facebook, while 34 percent said they would never purchase products via Facebook. Meanwhile, 15 percent of respondents said they didn’t know they could do this on Facebook, while 10 percent said they would purchase products via Facebook, and 9 percent said they have purchased products via Facebook.

According to Oracle, 23 percent of consumers have clicked “like” for merchants on Facebook, while 20 percent of Facebook users have made a purchase on the social network.

“Marketing teams will find a green field for launching promotions with new and returning customers at Facebook, many of whom are looking for coupons, promotions and special offers from retailers they or their friends already know and trust,” the report notes.

When asked about what they expect when they shop online and in stores with the same retailer, 73 percent of consumers aid they expect online pricing to be the same as or lower than in the stores. Meanwhile, 35 percent said they expect to be able to redeem the same coupons and offers both online and in stores.

The survey also found that 27 percent of consumers that own smartphones use those devices to browse or research products more than once a week, up from 13 percent of consumers who said the same back in 2009.

While 44 percent of consumers ages 25-34 and 30 percent of consumers ages 18-24 said they are or will soon use their mobile phones as payment devices, just 22 percent of consumers ages 35-44 said the same. Overall, just 9 percent of consumers said they are or will do this.

When shopping online, 52 percent said the most important thing was free shipping. Sixty-three percent of respondents said they abandon items in their online shopping carts because shipping charges are higher than expected.

Regarding Twitter, the majority of consumers said they don’t interact with merchants on Twitter. Meanwhile, 29 percent of consumers ages 25-34 said they look for coupons or special offers on Twitter. Twenty-one percent of this age group said they use Twitter for customer service needs; 21 percent said they tweet about their experiences with a product; 44 percent said they interact with friends about a product they plan on buying; and 26 percent said they follow merchants on Twitter.

Source:

http://www.oracle.com/us/industries/retail/cross-channel-commerce-2011-1401453.pdf