In a survey conducted by Jupiter Research for Bazaarvoice and richrelevance, 61% of reluctant shoppers said they could be positively swayed by online shopping resources. The niches most affected by hesitation are: Automotive - 50% Travel - 46% Electronics - 43% Consumers are shopping around and leaving their options open. 42% visited 3 or more sites to research their last purchase, and only 33% of online shoppers had made up their minds about the price they were willing to pay for their purchase in advance of going online to research. That leaves some good wiggle room for sites and brands to compete. Before researching: 31% had made up their minds on which item or title to choose 23% knew which brand they wanted to buy 16% knew which store they would purchase from 13% knew when they would make their purchase Once online, they trust the reviews and opinions of other consumers, so make sure your product offering is solid. 77% look to user ratings and reviews 66% use recommendations based on other consumers’ purchasing 65% use recommendations based on browsing behavior of fellow consumers Read more at blog.searchenginewatch.com