Hi all, I’m Stacy General, online personal shopper for PayPal.  A recent study by The Nielsen Company provides some interesting insights on how online shoppers are making their purchasing decisions.  According to the survey, one-third of global Internet users and half of North Americans mainly shop at online-only retailers.  Based on these findings, it looks like more Internet users are embracing the convenience of online shopping, which is great news for us, especially as we continue to provide you all with a safe and easy shopping environment.

 The study also revealed that online shoppers rely greatly on the reviews of their peers when making shopping decisions.  Nearly 60 percent of online shoppers said they consult reviews prior to purchasing consumer electronics and 40 percent of online shoppers claimed that they would not even buy electronics without seeking reviews about the product online first.  It appears that the e-commerce community is eager to share their thoughts on products, especially if it’s a negative one – more than 41 percent of global shoppers say that they would be more likely to share a negative opinion on a product via Twitter or by writing a review online.

Here at PayPal, it is encouraging to see this growth and solidarity among the global online community.  As a leader in online payments, we’re constantly searching for new ways to host a safe and easy shopping experience, which is obviously critical since it looks like an increasing amount of shopping is done online.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on where online shopping is going and how you participate – what websites do you read for reviews before making that next online purchase?