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New Survey From Home Electronics Journal Reveals 90.2% of Shoppers Research Tech Purchases Online, Even When Planning to Buy Offline

Posted on: Tuesday, 20 June 2006, 09:00 CDT

As summer approaches, tech-loving consumers are planning to take out their wallets to purchase televisions, digital cameras, and tools to keep them connected while on the go. More than 90% will research their purchases online, even if they plan to ultimately buy the products at retail stores.

The electronics e-magazine Home Electronics Journal (HEJ) in conjunction with market intelligence firm BIGresearch recently conducted a survey of 2,963 of HEJ's readers to garner insights on their decision-making process for the consumer electronics they plan to buy in the coming months.

To research their product options, 90.2% of all respondents and 96.0% of affluent respondents (those with household incomes of at least $100,000) use the Internet. For all respondents, a visit to a product website (51.6%) was slightly favored over conducting research in-store (50.8%). For the affluent set, the popular research resources were product websites (69.7%) and search engines (62.0%).

Despite their online fact-finding efforts, most respondents will make their purchases at retail. Best Buy is the retailer of choice (57.0% of all respondents and 77.2% of affluent respondents), followed by Circuit City (42.0% and 62.3%) and Wal-Mart (39.7% and 30.6%).

"As more consumers log on first for insight and guidance related to their electronics purchases, many of them will decide what they will buy before walking through the doors of Best Buy," said Roy Weiss, publisher of HEJ.

"The battle for the hearts and minds of these consumers will be won by the savvy marketers who leverage the Web and e-mail to promote their product offerings," added Weiss.

Among the products on the summer shopping list of consumer electronics enthusiasts are televisions (15.4% for all respondents and 24.7% for the affluent), digital cameras (13.2% and 15.6%), cell phones (12.0% and 11.6%), and laptops (11.4% and 13.7%)

For a complimentary report on the findings of this recent study, contact Thomas, Townsend & Kent, which publishes HEJ as part of its portfolio of popular e-magazines that targets the interests of affluent Americans, at www.thomastownsendandkent.com.

About Home Electronics Journal:

Home Electronics Journal (HEJ) (www.homeelectronicsjournal.com), published 24 times a year, reaches more than one million consumers who are early adopters of electronics technologies -- ranging from cell phones and MP3 players to computer systems and flat-panel televisions. HEJ is one of the e-magazines addressing the interests of affluent Americans published by Chicago-based Thomas, Townsend & Kent (www.thomastownsendandkent.com).

About BIGresearch:

BIGresearch is a market intelligence firm providing analysis of consumer behavior in the areas of retail, politics and media. The syndicated Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey (CIA) monitors the pulse of consumers each month to identify opportunities in a fragmented and changing marketplace. BIGresearch's methodology provides the most accurate consumer information in the industry with a margin of error of +/- 1 percent. Complimentary findings are available at www.bigresearch.com

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=283802

SOURCE: Home Electronics Journal

Source: MARKET WIRE

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