Score: Most consumers rely on Internet to make purchases

SCORE, WHICH provides small business mentoring, found that 97 percent of consumers search online for products and services. / COURTESY SCORE
SCORE, WHICH provides small business mentoring, found that 97 percent of consumers search online for products and services. / COURTESY SCORE

WASHINGTON – Nearly 100 percent of consumers search online for products and services, 91 percent have visited a store because of an online experience and 88 percent have been influenced by an online review.

Those statistics were recently compiled by Score, which provides small business mentoring, workshops and education.

Score gathered information about how much online activity consumers engage in before they make a purchase, and how well small businesses’ websites are fulfilling consumers’ needs for information.

Score found that consumers research a purchase heavily before making it, with 70 percent of consumers comparing prices or reading reviews, and 37 percent using the Internet to find a store at least once a month.

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Score also found that small business websites need to do more to attract consumers, as more and more people are searching and purchasing online. The agency found that only 51 percent of small businesses even have websites, and of those that do, 27 percent fail to provide a phone number, 68 percent lack an email address on the home page and 82 percent do not have social media accounts.

“These eye-opening statistics are hitting the bottom line for small businesses; 50 percent of online sales are lost when visitors can’t find content,” Score said.

In addition, four out of five consumers have used a smartphone to shop and 96 percent researched a product or service on their phone. Of those mobile searches, 73 percent trigger follow-up sharing, calls, sales or store visits. But Score said small businesses are not following the trend, as 93 percent of their websites are not mobile compatible.

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