Greenfield Online's “Shopping Index VIII” for the first quarter of 2000 reported these reasons for why consumers shop online -- and why they don't.

Reasons for Shopping Online

• Save time    60%
• Avoid crowds    47%
• Find the lowest price   46%
• Buy hard-to-find items  35%
• Better selection   29%
• More product information  22%
• Easier to ship    15%
• Good gift ideas   14%

Reasons for Not Shopping Online

• Shipping charges   51%
• Can't see/touch items   44%
• Can't return items easily  32%
• Worried about credit card safety 24%
• Can't ask questions   23%
• Takes too long to load screen  16%
• Worried about delivery time  15%
• Enjoy shopping offline  10%

What if we took those same endorsements and objections and applied them to buying a home online? Which responses would most apply? The answers might provide insights into how you can edit your online marketing efforts to suit the online buyer. Let's see how a hypothetical list might look:

Reasons for Shopping For a Home Online

• Save time    60%?
• Avoid driving around    47%?
• Find the lowest price   46%?
• Buy hard-to-find homes such as REO's and FSBOs  35%?
• Better selection   29%?
• More information available about the home  22%?
• Easy to communicate with agents online - 35%

Reasons for Not Shopping For a Home Online

• Shipping charges   51%?
• Can't go inside the home   44%?
• Worried about being bothered by Realtors 24%?
• Can't ask questions   23%?
• Takes too long to load screen  16%?
• Worried that inventory online might not be fresh 15%?
• Enjoy looking at homes in person  10%?
• Not enough agents with Internet skills 15%?

Transforming Tomorrow

     Sandra Swill had this to share regarding one of our past Trend Talks which related to the some of the compromises we are making as our world become more and more technologically advanced:

     “I think your statements are very timely and to the point.  All artistic creativity could eventually be lost as we know it today as more people become more technologically advanced.  The idea that only people with artistic tendencies and good color sense could create beauty will pass by the wayside with the advancements of technology. A lost or certainly a new form of art could become the norm. Is everyone aware that even the artistic element of surgery was replaced by a robot performing cardiac surgery yesterday in a NY hospital!”

What do you think?

Published: August 24, 2000

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.