nov 2 p3

Online Influences Offline

The results of a new survey done by the Dieringer Research Group, show that in the past year US consumers spent $1.00 online for every $1.70 they spent offline, after doing online research using a search engine.
The survey was conducted in the 12 months between Q2 2003 and Q2 2004 among 3,000 US consumers in order to determine multi-channel consumer behavior. In total, $180.7 billion in offline purchases were made after consumers had conducted online research, a figure bigger than the $106.5 billion in purchases made online.
Not only were more Internet-influenced offline purchases made than online purchases over the 12-month time frame, but the percentage of offline purchases influenced by online research has grown faster than online purchases.

Online sales increased by 14% from 2003 to 2004, while Internet-influenced offline sales rose 31% in the same period.
A recent survey by the Online Publishers Association (OPA) shows that people favor doing product research online rather than offline by a large margin ? 76% say they prefer finding product information online rather than in offline media, like magazines, compared to 21% who feel neither is better and 3% who favor offline methods.
The DRG study indicates, however, that when it comes down to actually making the purchase, people seem to prefer doing it offline.
Source: The Dieringer Research Group and eMarketer.

Revenue climbs for EBay

EBay's third-quarter net income nearly doubled and revenue climbed 52 per cent, as the company's international auction business and a strong back-to-school season counteracted seasonally slow summer months. Revenue climbed to $US805.9 million from $US530.9 million!