Holiday Shoppers' Support Group

December 02, 2005

Big Spenders Account For Nearly Half Of Online Shopping Dollars

By Antone Gonsalves InternetWeek

Web shoppers who buy and spend the most make up less than a fifth of the
online buying population, but account for almost half of the dollars spent,
a research firm said Friday.
As a result, retailers should identify these "most valuable purchasers" and
develop targeted marketing programs to get as much revenue from these
shoppers as possible, Nielsen/NetRatings said.

People who spent more than $185 on the Web and made four or more purchases
from June to August accounted for 18 percent of online buyers in the United
States and 46 percent of total spending, the research firm said. Those who
spent the same amount on three purchases or less accounted for 11 percent
of the buying population and 24 percent of the total.

In comparison, people spending the fewest dollars online and making the
fewest purchases made up the majority of buyers, 55 percent, and accounted
for 21 percent of online purchases.

As a result, retailers need to analyze their customer bases to identify the
big spenders and target them with marketing programs. Besides their value
as revenue contributors, people buying the most online are also
inordinately loyal to the retailers they buy from, Nielsen/NetRatings
analyst Heather Dougherty said.

In addition to loyalty, big spenders are heavy users of online
comparison-shopping tools, tend to fall into higher income brackets and are
more likely to be connected via broadband than the average U.S. Internet
user, Nielsen/NetRatings said. They also spend more time online and on
retail Web sites.

"Customer acquisition strategies need to include a combination of broad
reach marketing tactics, including search and comparison shopping tools, as
well as targeted Web sites that are frequented by the MVPs," Dougherty said
in a statement. "Online retailers also need to tailor loyalty programs that
reward the MVPs for purchasing at their sites to drive repeat sales and
maintain a strong relationship with these valuable customers throughout the
year."

Hello my name is Shewolf and I have not done my shopping yet. ....

someone steal me away for a few days .
Ill pay you.. and well.. if you just let me hide in your basement..
please

oh... the humanity

PLEEEEEEASE..