In a Multi-Device World--How Do Consumers Decide?

Tablets, netbooks, laptops--oh my! As the holiday quickly approaches, consumer electronics and gadgets are at the top of many consumers wish lists.

To better understand how consumers are researching and shopping for laptops, tablets, netbooks and eReaders, Google and OTX interviewed 4,000 respondents and used analysis of clickstream data from Compete’s 2 million US internet users. The full study was posted on TechCrunch, and some of the highlights are below:

New Devices Have Fueled Overall Interest in the PC Category
In terms of unique visitors to each category, tablets saw 1,328% growth and eReaders saw 114 percent growth from last year.

Shoppers Are Undecided
While eReaders and tablets are getting a lot of attention on the web, almost half the market starts out undecided on device type, with 49% considering more than one type of device.

Shoppers Spend ~1 Month Research and 2/3 of Device Purchases are Influenced by Online
Consumers on average spend one month researching the type of device they should buy, and there is a long window of opportunity to influence them throughout their research process. Additionally, 2/3 of consumers' device purchases are influenced by online.






















Posted by Reshma Nichani, Google Retail Team