Almost four in 10 said they buy products online monthly. The market has not been seized permanently by the most established sites. Overall, brand remains a much less powerful magnet than price. Of 300 newly patronized sites mentioned, most were listed by only one respondent each. Based on responses, Cognitiative classified only 5 percent of users as brand-loyal and 16 percent as motivated mainly by convenience.
Internet users are heavily into purchase incentives.
Almost two-thirds have taken advantage of some online offer, and 40 percent said they've done so five times or more. What they want most are free shipping, cash and rebates. Finally, site-performance issues hardly ended with the holiday season. Only 15 percent of consumers report using broadband connections. Fifty percent flagged slow sites as a barrier to shopping, and 38 percent cited lack of time.