Online Shoppers Turn to Amazon First, Not Google

Amazon.com just took the lead in the holiday 2016 race. A report by BloomReach Inc., an internet marketing firm, found that 55 percent of shoppers check Amazon first when searching for a product online. Search engines take second place at 28 percent — a 6 percent decrease from 2015. Only 16 percent of online shoppers go directly to a retailer's site first, which is down from 21 percent the year prior. Even more troubling for retailers not named Amazon: while an online shopper may find the item they're looking for on a retailer's website, 90 percent say they will still compare it to the price for the same product on Amazon.

Total Retail's Take: There's no stopping the Goliath that is Amazon. The study went on to report that nearly 94 percent of respondents say they plan to shop on Amazon this holiday season. Aside from its wide variety of products, consumers are gravitating towards the Prime service, which guarantees two days or less free shipping. The study explains that while offering logistical needs, other retailers are better at tailoring their websites and product recommendations than Amazon. While Amazon figures to have a successful holiday season, will consumers start to get wary of the e-commerce giant, especially after its most recent problems with counterfeit products and self-promotion of its own products in the buy box?