Luxury Institute Says More Shoppers Using Web

New York, NY, July 21, 2008--Wealthy consumers are increasingly turning to the Internet to find the goods and services they need, but some marketers are still missing out, according to a recent report from the Luxury Institute.

The report said that some marketers are likely advertising in the wrong place.

The report said that online search is now only slightly behind the recommendations of friends and family members for wealthy consumers, defined as households with annual income over $150,000.

About 64 percent of wealthy consumers first turn to company/product websites while 57 percent turn to friends and family. Nearly 40 percent of consumers are now turning to search engines for product information.

Hitwise says that Google may be the best bet for luxury marketers. Google accounted for nearly 70% of search queries in June.

However, the group said that marketers should use several search engines to increase the return on investment of campaigns and catch the eye of more consumers.

“Luxury [marketers] are quickly awakening to the power of gateways like Google to drive consumers to their sites,” said Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury Institute. “Now is the time to get processes in place to measure the efficacy of various search optimization strategies.”