The Rise of eCommerce
When times are tough, consumers price shop. And what better way to price shop than with a search engine like Google? But electronic commerce is still only in its infancy. According to the US Census Bureau, in 2008 online shopping accounted for less than 5 percent of all retail shopping.[164] This surprisingly small number leaves a large margin for growth.
The growth of eCommerce is naturally friendly to search engines since consumers turn to them when looking for a product online. For example, a Performics study conducted in 2007 showed that 70 percent of US mothers who shop online price-shop online before purchasing, and 57 percent shop online before purchasing in a brick-and-mortar store.[165] Why is online price-shopping ...