Survey: Amazon beats Google as starting point for product search

A survey of 1,000 US consumers conducted by PowerReviews found that Amazon is the preferred starting point for product search. Google comes in a close second, followed by brand/retailer sites and e-commerce marketplaces (eBay, Etsy, etc.):

• Amazon — 38 percent
• Google — 35 percent
• Brand or Retailer Site — 21 percent
• Other eCommerce Marketplaces — 6 percent

Of those consumers who started their shopping journeys on Amazon, reviews, product selection, free shipping and deals/pricing were the primary reasons cited.

Among the 35 percent of shoppers who began with Google 52 percent said they clicked on Google Shopping Results, 41 percent clicked on an Amazon link and a similar number clicked on a retailer link, while 27 percent clicked on brand sites.

The survey also found that most shoppers ultimately purchased their desired products in physical retail stores.

A 2015 survey of 2,000 consumers from Survata for BloomReach found that 44 percent of users start product searches on Amazon; 34 percent start with a search engine. A 2013 Forrester survey found 30 percent of respondents used Amazon to start product research, while 13 percent started with Google.