Daily Research News Online no. 5587 - comScore Offers Better Picture of Web Search Impact

comScore Offers Better Picture of Web Search Impact

June 7 2006

Online audience measurement firm comScore Networks has launched qSearch Retail™, a tool to measure the impact of Web search behaviour on consumer spending online and across retail channels, including in-store, catalog and phone purchases.

comScore's own research over the last two years suggests that clients who focus on direct / immediate online conversion of potential buyers (known as 'same session' purchases) are seriously underestimating the impact of search on their bottom line. The company says that this category 'typically accounts for no more than five to 20 percent of all search-related purchases'. There is wide variation between product categories - hence the need for category-level multi-channel search data. Offline conversions account for anything from 60 to 90% of follow-on sales, while the remainder occur in latent online transactions.

qSearch Retail wll provide quarterly analysis using the existing qSearch methodology of observing consumer Web search at major engines, including search ad impression exposures and click activity. The product pulls data from the 2 million-strong comScore Global Network of Internet users, as well as the company's online survey research techniques. The resulting features include:

data on the impact of search on multi-channel purchases (online, offline, catalog, phone)
Latency analysis
Searcher metrics (searches per searcher, average order value, dollars per searcher, etc.)
Click metrics (share of voice, click-through rates, conversion rates, etc.)
Attitudinal analysis of searchers
Trends over time, and
custom analyses such as competitive data, keyword categorization, cross-tabbing and omnibus survey questions.

John Miniati, VP of comScore Networks comments: 'It's increasingly clear that consumers who search for products online will often visit brick-and-mortar locations to complete their purchase. In today's economy, retailers who offer both a strong online and strong offline presence have a distinct advantage.'

The company is on the web at www.comscore.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.