Why Search May Not Click for Retailers
Consumers Going Directly to Retailers' Sites for Six Out of 10 Visits
by
Abbey Klaassen
Published:
November 02, 2009
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- As retailers get ready for the holiday season, their first instinct might be to throw as much money as they can afford into search. But recent traffic trends may point them otherwise.
Search Marketing:
Google Dominates, but a New Microsoft/Yahoo Venture Could Mean a Stronger No. 2
DataCenter Breaks Down the Share of Site Visits From Various Channels
Explore the Full Version at Ad Age's DataCenter
Nielsen found the majority of retailers' web traffic (61%, on average) comes from people going directly to a retail site -- consumers typing, say, Amazon.com into a browser address bar.
Nielsen's findings are based on second-quarter traffic for 200 online retailers. The analysis shows that comparison-shopping sites, such as NexTag or Scripps Networks Interactive's Shopzilla, collectively accounted for about 1% of traffic. Other referrals, such as affiliate programs or advertising (basically anything that wasn't direct navigation, comparison referrals or search), accounted for the remainder.
The 9.5% of traffic from search also likely included a good chunk of people conducting navigational searches -- typing Zappos into the search bar rather than searching for types of products (shoes) or product attributes (comfort footwear).
Brands matter
Ken Cassar, VP-industry insights at Nielsen's Online division, said a recent look at the top 50 search terms revealed only three that weren't branded -- and those were pornographic.
