TV shoppers use Amazon product details and reviews, even when they don’t buy on Amazon

Shoppers use Amazon product detail pages and customer reviews to discover, research, and purchase products. While it makes sense that customers consider these product details and reviews important when they choose to buy on Amazon, these tools also help them make decisions when they shop elsewhere online or in physical stores.

To provide brands with more insight, we worked with comScore, a global measurement firm that specializes in solutions to help media buyers and sellers plan, transact, and evaluate media across channels, advertising, and consumer behavior. comScore asked a panel of 609 US shoppers who purchased a television over the prior six months how they conducted their TV research, what factors were important to them in the process, and what research channels were most useful. Here’s what comScore found.

Shoppers took their time and considered multiple sources

comScore asked shoppers how they took their time and conducted their homework. Key survey insights include:

• TV purchasers visited an average of 3.9 retailers or retailer websites during their shopping journey.
• 76% of TV purchasers said they shopped at both online and physical retailers throughout their shopping journey.
• 56% of TV shoppers researched their purchases for over 1 week.
• 40% of shoppers bought TVs that cost more than $1,000.
• 62% of shoppers bought TVs in physical stores.

Amazon research

Nearly all consumers who researched products on Amazon viewed more than one brand and read several customer reviews. Shoppers used the detailed product specifications to understand various features and to compare prices. One respondent said they used Amazon in the shopping process because of Amazon’s “unbiased reviews and huge variety of TVs to compare models and features.” Key Amazon shopper research stats include:

• TV purchasers that used Amazon throughout their shopping journey visited the website and/or app an average of nearly 6 times.
• Shoppers researched an average of 2.8 brands on Amazon (31% looked at 2 brands; 60% looked at 3 or more brands).
• Shoppers who used Amazon read an average of 9.6 customer reviews during the shopping process (48% looked at 3 to 9 reviews; 37% looked at 10 or more reviews).
• 65% of shoppers cited the ability to compare prices across different TV brands and models as a top way that they used Amazon.

In-store research

62% of shoppers made their final purchases in physical stores. While at the store, nearly two-thirds of TV purchasers used a smartphone to look up features, compare prices, and read customer reviews. Key in-store shopper stats include:

• 64% of TV purchasers who own a smartphone used their device in store during their shopping journey, with 31% reading reviews.
• In-store purchasers who used Amazon used the site and/or app an average of 5.3 times to look up TV information prior to completing a purchase.

Opportunities for marketers

Amazon is an important part of customer’s shopping journey across physical and online retailers, regardless of where the final purchases take place. This is especially true for high-consideration items like TVs. Shoppers take their time and utilize Amazon for brand and product details and customer reviews, both online when they are starting the process and in store prior to completing a purchase. Brand marketers have the opportunity to repeatedly engage shoppers during each of these stages, and Amazon Advertising has several ways to help them do this.

• Help drive research on product detail pages by using sponsored ads—Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands (formerly Headline Search Ads)—when customers are actively shopping on Amazon.
• Expand your reach beyond active shopping context by using our in-market audience segments to reach customers with display ads both on and off of Amazon via our programmatic ad solution.
• Remarket to audiences who have previously visited a brand’s product detail page(s).

Learn more about Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands today. For more information about display ads, contact your Amazon Advertising account executive or get in touch with an advertising representative.

Research source and methodology

Amazon commissioned comScore to design, field, and tabulate results of this study via their online research panel. Panelists were recruited via email, and 609 respondents completed the survey between April 17 and April 20, 2018. Respondents were qualified as US residents aged 18 or older who bought a TV via any channel, offline or online, in the prior six months. comScore research analysts applied weighting factors to the survey data to ensure the sample reflected the US recent TV buyer population on age, gender, and income distributions as reported in comScore’s Plan Metrix. Please visit https://www.comscore.com/ for more details.