Not So Fast, Ms. Retailer

Shoppers rely on traditional advertising to decide when and where to search for merchandise online, reports the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association (RAMA), a division of the National Retail Association.

In the survey conducted for RAMA by BIGresearch, 47.2 percent of consumers said they were most motivated to launch an online search after seeing magazine ads, and:

42.3 percent said newspaper ads prompted them to search online.

42.8 percent said reading articles sent them scurrying to their computers.

41.8 percent of women vs. 29 percent of men were motivated by coupons to look online.

29 percent of women vs. 24.5 percent of men were moved by in-store promotions to perform an online search.

36.1 percent of men vs. 29.5 percent of women were driven to the Internet following face-to-face conversations.

So, says Mike Gatti of RAMA, retailers should be careful "not to put all their eggs in one basket" when advertising. "While search engine marketing continues to be a popular strategy, retailers should not lose sight of traditional advertising channels to promote products and services.

More on this survey in tomorrow’s Retail Strategies.