When customers come to a retail site, what kind of products do they like? What kind of tradeoffs do they make? Active Decisions conducts online research to understand

demand, continuously collecting “market intelligence,” and specifically, why people are buying what they’re buying.

“Currently, we’re tracking about a million shoppers a month” to analyze online consumer behavior, says Tom Dubois. “We help companies get a lot closer to their

customers.” Over 130 companies, such as Sony, Kodak, Hewlett Packard, and Ford Motor Company currently utilize Active Research.

Active Decisions' massive data collection includes 16 portals and shopping sites, helping to educate portal buyers. Portals tend to be where people start their shopping process when they comparison shop.

“We’re a true intermediary in all senses of that word. We aggregate product content, images, and detailed product information and put it into an application for comparison

shopping.” Online, people research first and then decide which product they want to buy. “The numbers show that about 85 percent of the people who use the Web to research a product will buy it offline.”

What people are looking for online is convenience. “It comes down to empowering the buyer, and making it convenient for them. And they can feel like they’re making an

educated purchase, they’re very comfortable with their purchase, and are happy with their selection,” he says. “If a person takes some time to really figure out what they want to buy, they’re much less likely to have buyer’s remorse and return the product.”

Next RCME Speaker