“Online Coupons Attract Those With Higher Incomes”

<

 Out of 1,000 consumers surveyed with Internet access, 73 percent used at least one coupon they found online in the past six months. Nineteen percent said they had used online coupons six or more times in the last six months.

Fifty-eight percent of those surveyed who had household incomes of less that $35,000 a year said they had used an online coupon at least once in the past six months, while 74 percent with household incomes between $35,000 and $74,000 said they had used online coupons at least once in the past six months.

 Those with incomes of  $75,000 and above said they used online coupons more frequently in the last six months with 48 percent using online coupons four or more times in a six-month period. Just 23 percent of those with incomes under $35,000 said they had used online coupons four or more times in the last six months.

The main reasons given for returning an item online were, an item was damaged, the wrong item was shipped and the item was an unwanted gift or a duplicate.

Other reasons cited for returning items include incorrect size, fit, color or a change of mind. Respondents said that clothes, shoes and apparel were the most likely items to be returned when compared with other consumer goods.

PriceRunner also examined the frequency of returns and found that 51.1 percent had never returned an item purchased online, 16.7 percent said they had returned an item once, 15.3 percent twice, 5.5percent three times and 7.9 percent had returned items five or more times.

One trend that emerged from the survey was a connection between how long someone had shopped online and the frequency of return. The longer a consumer had shopped online the less likely they were to return an order.

Survey respondents were also asked to explain what irritated them the most about the item return process. The two most common answers were, " having to pay the shipping costs for returning the item", and the time and hassle it takes "standing in line at the post office" to return an order.

"The PriceRunner survey findings reflect a general sentiment in the marketplace that online retailers’ return processes have room for improvement," said Dan Gerler, founder and CEO of Onlineshoes.com, the nation’s first online shoe retailer. "While our customer service team is equipped with extensive product and sizing information that reduces the likelihood of returns and exchanges, it’s inevitable some customers will change their mind about orders in hindsight. We accommodate this reality by offering a simple, unconditional 90-day return policy and year-round free exchanges. These courtesies lower the purchase barrier for first-time shoppers and build long-term loyalty with repeat customers."

MSN rated as the second-largest site for both the UK and France, according to Nielsen//NetRatings as cited by Adotas in the announcement of the PriceRunner deal.

That traffic will see price comparisons delivered by PriceRunner for products like digital cameras, watches, and other items. PriceRunner lists items by lowest price first, from online and offline retailers, and they claim to have the broadest price comparison.

Although PriceRunner has offered separate versions of its site in a few countries like France and the UK, the MSN deal will be their first multi-national agreement. It arrives just as the end-of-year shopping season begins in earnest.

MSN Europe sees comparison shopping as an important component to its intent to build up their sites as destinations for shoppers:

PriceRunner has only operated in the United States for a little over a year. They are expanding operations by adding premier retailers to their listings.

The most recent leading online retailers to select PriceRunner as a strategic shopping search partner include Circuit City, Office Depot, Home Depot, PC Mall, Newegg.com, Toshiba, Apple, JC Penney, Skechers and the Home Shopping Network, PriceRunner announced last week.

—

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg | Yahoo! My Web | Furl

Bookmark WebProNews:

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.

Pricerunner will increase ValueClick’s ability to participate in the expected growth in Europe’s online retail sales, which Forrester Research forecasts will grow from 40 billion Euros in 2004 to 167 billion Euros in 2009 – an annual growth rate of 33 percent.

Under the terms of the agreement, ValueClick will acquire all outstanding equity interests in Pricerunner for an adjusted purchase price of approximately $29.0 million, including cash and approximately 263,000 shares of ValueClick common stock to be issued to three management shareholders of Pricerunner.

“We have been looking to add comparison shopping services as part of our strategic growth plan, and in Pricerunner we have found an established partner that will help us take our first step in this rapidly-growing and profitable area of performance-based online marketing,” said James Zarley, chairman and chief executive officer of ValueClick. “Comparison shopping is a strategic fit with our media, affiliate marketing and search offerings, and we look forward to working with Pricerunner and helping them expand their presence in Europe.”

Jeremy Muncy is a staff writer for WebProNews.com