'Net Features : harris interactive

Are Return Shipping Fees Scaring Away Your Customers?

Michael Garrity — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 19:35:00 GMT

Apparently, I’m not the only one who finds return shipping fees kind of annoying, because according to a new survey by ShopRunner, 81 percent of online shoppers are “not likely” to make repeat purchases from retailer that charge for return shipping.

The poll was conducted online by Harris Interactive and was made up of 3,036 adult consumers in the U.S to find out what drives online shopping today.

Not only did ShopRunner uncover that the vast majority of consumers won’t return after being charged for return shipping, but 69 percent of them said that returning items purchased online is “a complicated process” altogether, fees or not.

This data is in line with another study from this past September by Washington and Lee University that found that return shipping policies have a significant impact on customer spending and loyalty over a period of four years. When asked to pay for their own returns, customers decreased their spending with that retailer from between 75 to a complete 100 percent within two years of the return. However, those that were offered free return shipping increased spending with those retailers between 158 and an astounding 457 percent.

ShopRunner’s survey also ventured into other areas of interest for online retailers. For instance, it found that well over half (67 percent) of online consumers said they “would purchase more online” from either their computers or mobile devices if they could use the same secure and simple checkout procedure across all websites. This, of course, opens the door for services like PayPal to step in and ensure greater convenience and comfort for these shoppers.

In addition, and unsurprisingly, ShopRunner and Harris noted that shoppers really value quick delivery, with 77 percent of the respondents saying that they would spend more online, and thus less in stores, if e-commerce sites offered free one-to-two day shipping. But for 65 percent of shoppers, faster free shipping would actually cause them to procrastinate and put off confirming a purchase for longer than usual, as it allows them more time to make informed decisions without greatly adding to the delay in receiving their item(s).

Conveniently, ShopRunner, a shopping services solution provider, recently expanded its line of online shopping services, which already let retailers offer fast, free and unlimited two-day shipping. Now, users can also take advantage of free return shipping with the ReturnRunner solution, and a fast, secure two-click checkout solution called PayRunner.

Emails Driving E-Commerce Activity

Allison Howen — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 19:00:00 GMT

While there are many advertising avenues that online retailers can leverage to reach out to their customers, few can garner a better return on investment (ROI) than email.

In fact, a recent study commissioned by Listrak and conducted by Harris Interactive reveals that 97 percent of Americans receive emails from retailers and more than two in five (41%) have made a purchase in the past six months as a result of receiving an email from a retailer.

And although email has the potential to provide merchants with a high ROI, the biggest challenge for marketers is creating subject lines that capture their consumers’ attention. However, according to the study, targeted subject lines are the key factor in driving open rates. For example, 53 percent of the survey respondents claim that they open emails with subject lines that showcase a special offer, while 47 percent say that they open emails that contain an order confirmation.

“With the holiday season just around the corner, it is important for retailers to understand their customers and how best to communicate and interact with them,” said Ross Kramer, CEO of Listrak. “In a previous study that we conducted at Listrak, we found that on average 80 percent of consumers buying from our e-commerce clients only made a purchase once. That is a huge missed opportunity for online retailers. Sending targeted emails to consumers is essential if retailers want to turn one-time purchasers into loyal customers.”

Other noteworthy statistics from the study found that men who are 55 years old or older are actually more likely than their younger counterparts to make a purchase in reaction to an email. Women, however, proved to be even more likely than men to make a purchase as a reaction to a retailer’s email.

Chores Rank Higher than Passwords, Study Says

Allison Howen — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 20:00:00 GMT

Is solving world peace easier than remembering passwords?

While the answer to that question should be obvious, a new study from Janrain and Harris Interactive reveals that 38 percent of adults sometimes think it would be easier to solve world peace than attempt to remember all of their passwords.

The 2012 Online Registration and Password study finds that 58 percent of online adults have five or more unique passwords associated with their online logins, and 30 percent of people have more than 10 unique passwords that they need to remember. All of these passwords have led to an increasingly common problem – Password Fatigue.

“With all of the different websites consumers log into on a regular basis – from email and social networks to online banking and e-commerce sites - it’s no wonder people are struggling to remember such a large number of passwords,” says Larry Drebes, CEO of Janrain. “What’s surprising is that consumers think cleaning their bathroom, or in the extreme cases, trying to solve world peace, sounds preferable to adding yet another password to the list.”

While most consumers know that it’s important to create a variety of strong passwords to protect their identity online, the problem is coming up with different logins – and then actually remembering the passwords for the appropriate sites.

In fact, the study shows that recalling complicated passwords when needed tends to be when people run into trouble, with 37 percent of survey participants claiming that they have had to ask for assistance in recovering their user name or password for at least one website each month. This had led to 38 percent of survey respondents claiming that they rather undertake household chores, like doing the dishes or even cleaning the toilet, than have to create another online identity.

However, it is important to note that frustrations don’t only lie with having to create a new user name and password, because the majority of respondents are also irritated with having to enter their personal information when registering to websites. This could be because most people don't know how sites use their information – for example, 62 percent of the survey respondents would be willing to enter more personal information if they knew how the site or brand was planning to use it.

So, with 84 percent of people claiming that they dislike being asked to register when they arrive at a website, what are site owners to do? The best option is to offer social login, which enables site visitors to register to a new website through an existing social profile. This not only benefits the consumer who doesn’t have to create and remember a new username and password, but also benefits the site owner who can leverage the data that is already connected to the visitor’s social profile.

Another option is to create shorter registration forms. The study reveals that 44 percent of respondents find online registration forms to be too long, which can potentially lead visitors to not only abandon the registration process, but also abandon the website altogether. But if your marketing department can’t go without the personalized data that is captured from the registration process, you can always clearly outline what the requested information is being used for.

Americans Don’t Trust Info on the ’Net

Allison Howen — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 16:38:00 GMT

Not only are Americans unforgiving when it comes to faulty websites on the ’Net, but a new study reveals that they also don’t hand out their trust very easily either.

The Mancx survey, which was conducted by Harris Interactive, found that almost every online American adult (98%) finds reasons to distrust the information that they discover while surfing the Web.

So where is all of this distrust stemming from? According to the study, 59 percent of Americans don’t trust information on the Internet because there are too many ads, while 56 percent of respondents' lack of trust stems from outdated information that appears during Web searches. Additionally, 53 percent find online information too self-promotional and 45 percent don’t trust the information that they find in unfamiliar forums.

But in addition to a lack of trust, the survey also shows that 94 percent of American adults who look for information online are concerned that “bad things” could happen to them as a result of acting on inaccurate online information. Those bad consequences include wasting time – which 67 percent of survey respondents are concerned about, followed by 63 percent of respondents being worried about getting a computer virus and 51 percent who are apprehensive about losing money or risking online fraud. Other concerns include damaged credibility (36%), getting fired (14%) and the loss of a spouse or a relationship (9%).

These numbers make it no surprise that most of the survey respondents think that their online experiences could be improved upon, especially in regards to trust. In fact, nearly 3 in 5 respondents say that it would be an improvement if the answers they found while conducting a search could be trusted, and 54 percent say it would be an improvement if search result answers always came from trusted sources. Additionally, 53 percent of online searchers claim they would like their search answers to always be up-to-date, while 32 percent would like to waste less time searching (to whom I ask, wouldn’t we all?).

“These findings demonstrate that people want online information to be more credible than it is today, and that current web services just don’t cut it,” says Mattias Guilotte, Mancx CMO and Co-founder. “Mancx offers a solution by giving people a new way to find the answers they need by matching questions with a trusted source, and allows them to exchange answers and money in a trusted environment.”

It is also important to note that Web businesses, especially retailers, can establish trust with their audience by displaying trust signals on their sites, such as those from companies like VeriSign, TRUSTe and eTrust. Learn more about these and other security providers here.

Use Video to Drive Brand Interest (Not Direct Sales)

Pete Prestipino — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 15:30:00 GMT

A new survey from Harris Interactive and brand agency Digitas reveals an increased urgency for brand investment in video, showing that 46 percent of online video viewers in the U.S. say that if they are watching a video online that mentions a new product or brand, they would be at least somewhat likely to look up that brand afterwards.

Additional highlights from the study include the following:

- 49 percent of those who follow brands on social networks say that if a brand that they follow posts a video online, they are at least somewhat likely to click on the link to watch it and learn more.

- 51 percent of online video viewers, ages 18-44, say that if they watch a video online and it mentions a new product or brand, they would look up that brand.

- 62 percent of online video viewers who have a favorite celebrity, ages 18-34, would check out an online video starring that person.

"Brand content has become an integral part of any successful marketing strategy," says Stephanie Sarofian, managing director of The Third Act, the brand content unit of Digitas. "Whether you're thinking about mobile, social, b2b, or any facet of marketing, content is now at the heart of everything we do. There is immense opportunity right now for brands to engage consumers through content-marketing across all channels."

What Makes a Most Memorable Mobile Ad?

Allison Howen — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 18:00:00 GMT

According to a survey by Harris Interactive, more than 77 million Americans are estimated to recall seeing a mobile advertisement, and 39 million are able to recall the brand category for that advertisement.

The most memorable ad categories are: entertainment with 39 percent, tech with 36 percent, retail with 32 percent, gaming with 29 percent, finance and auto with 22 percent, fast food with 19 percent and consumer packaged goods with 18 percent.

“This study reinforces how effective mobile ads are for brands,” said Dane Holewinski, director of marketing at Greystripe. “Entertainment, technology and retail – who have been advertising on mobile devices for years – are effectively reaching their target audiences on the go. With brands in other verticals like finance, quick service restaurants, and consumer packaged goods having invested heavily in mobile advertising over the past six to 12 months, we expect them to achieve similar levels of recognition by the end of the year.”

The survey not only shows which ad categories are the most memorable, but also by whom the ads are being remembered.

Ages 18 through 34 were most likely to recall seeing a mobile ad and remember its category, followed by ages 35 through 54. Females also proved more likely to recall the ad category over males by one percentage point.