Consumers browsing, not buying, online

Home Channel News, Oct 23, 2000

Home Improvement Research Institute releases findings of ongoing survey about Internet usage

CHICAGO -- Growing numbers of consumers are turning to the Internet for information about home improvement products and projects. But relatively few of those Web surfers are ready to shop for such goods and services online, according to an ongoing study of consumer Internet usage conducted by the Home Improvement Research Institute.

The latest findings, which HIRI officials presented at its annual conference last month in Chicago, were gleaned from a nationally projectable telephone survey of 1,000 adults conducted in June. Two previous "waves" of research were conducted in June 1999 and January 2000.

According to the latest survey, three times as many respondents used the Internet to conduct home improvement research than used it to make a home improvement purchase, and only 5.3 percent of respondents said they "definitely" or "probably" would buy a home improvement product on the Internet in the next year. In comparison, 24.7 percent of respondents said they "definitely" or "probably" would buy any product online within 12 months.

So why are consumers so reluctant to make an online purchase of a home improvement products? The two biggest reasons are that respondents want to see and touch the products they're buying (13 percent) and they're "just looking" (11 percent).

"Security of information was much less of a barrier to online home improvement shopping than it was to all products," noted Fred Miller, HIRI's managing director, who pointed out that security concerns were far and away the major impediment to online shopping in general (24 percent).

The survey also found that only 8.4 percent of respondents had bookmarked a home improvement site, and nearly half of those claiming to have a home improvement bookmark didn't know it by name.

"It seems pretty clear that at this point nobody has established a dominant position for their home improvement site," said Miller.

Warehouse stares get nod

Conference attendees also received an update on the latest findings of HIRI's ongoing product-purchase tracking study. The 2000 version of the biennial study, which began in 1988, focused on where and how consumers got products and advice for home improvement projects and what kinds of projects different kinds of consumers were most likely to tackle.

Among the basic findings was the fact that 61 percent of those surveyed preferred a one-stop shopping experience, but only 30 percent said they typically purchase a majority of products at one store.

The survey found that consumers continue to migrate to warehouse stores because of their broad selections. Warehouses accounted for 40 percent of the respondents' overall product purchases in 1999, up from 36 percent in 1997 and 32 percent in 1995.