Survey: Web shoppers are bargain hunters

Of the 4,299 online buyers surveyed earlier this month by BizRate.com, 54% said they were more intent on finding bargains this holiday season than they had been last year.

The survey, conducted Dec. 4-9, also found that online shoppers visit an average of four sites before selecting a Website from which to make a purchase and that they visit the site an average of 2.5 times before actually completing the purchase. Nearly all online buyers—94%–visit multiple Websites to compare prices; 72% do so to compare shipping charges.

The majority of online buyers—54%–start their online shopping by visit a merchant’s Website. Another 22% kick things off at a comparison shopping site, while 11% start at a search engine and 8% at a shopping portal.