Originally published April 5 2005
Consumers using internet to find local shopping, says study
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
According to a study conducted by market researchers Constat Inc. and The Kelsey Group, 70 percent of American households now find local businesses using the Internet. A poll conducted in October 2003 found the figure to be 60 percent, with 73 percent using the local newspaper. If current trends continue, the Internet will become more popular for local business searches than newspapers in the next year.
Consumers are turning away from newspapers for local shopping information, taking their broadband connections to search engines on the Web instead, a recent study says.
The trend is expected to increasingly shift advertising dollars from print to cyberspace.
Consumers are turning away from newspapers for local shopping information and heading to the web instead, a reflection of the impact Internet search engines are having on the use of traditional media, a study released Tuesday showed.
Fully 70 percent of U.S. households now use the Internet to find local merchants and services, which is equal to the percentage that go to newspapers, according to a survey conducted in February by market research firms Constat Inc. and The Kelsey Group.
Assuming the current trend continues as expected, the Internet will surpass newspapers over the next 12 months.
The findings are significant for newspapers, as well as Yellow Pages and other traditional media for finding shopping information.
With people using the Internet more, advertising dollars are sure to increasingly shift from print to cyberspace.
Fully 55 percent of people with Internet access, which could be at home or in the office, use a high-speed connection, according to Nielsen/NetRatings.
In addition, 69 percent of retail purchases made online are conducted via DSL, cable or other speedy connection, and broadband users spend 34 percent more on the web than dial-up users.
The ConStat/Kelsey study did not look at the number of times shoppers use the Internet versus newspapers, Polachek said.
To compete, newspapers and other traditional local advertising media will need to develop new business models for attracting shoppers, Polachek said.
For example, a national newspaper, such as The New York Times, could build its own news portal with a search engine capable of directing people to local merchants and services through partnerships with regional newspapers.
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