Price comparison sites drive online spending

Price comparison websites are the driving force behind 60 per cent of consumers´ shopping decisions, according to new research.

The Coremetrics survey shows that half of shoppers´ decisions are influenced by online reviews and some 44 per cent are driven by brand recognition.

Prudent spending is the top priority for 92 per cent of Christmas shoppers, the research reveals.

However, the study also showed that of the 94 per cent of firms that use a multi-platform marketing approach, 74 per cent do not carry out an investigation of their return on investment.

Coremetrics vice-president Richard Sheppard said: "Measurability of online is vital to understanding how to attribute marketing budgets to best serve visitors and drive future sales.

"Frankly we were shocked to see how few marketing decisions are made based on tangible success rates."

The company provides digital marketing optimisation solutions to more than 1,000 online businesses around the world.