Race over shopping searches gets tighter

Rise in mobile e-commerce helped Google narrow gap

SEATTLE— Amazon.com Inc. remains the top online destination for U.S. shoppers seeking products, but Alphabet Inc.’s Google and other search engines narrowed the gap over the past year.

About 49 per cent of online shoppers visit Amazon first when searching for products, down from 55 per cent in 2016, according to a consumer survey from San Francisco research firm Survata. Google and other search engines followed at 36 per cent, up from 28 per cent.

Consumers visited individual retailers’ websites first only 15 per cent of the time, compared with 16 per cent last year. Being thought of first by consumers for product searches helps Amazon maintain its lead in e-commerce.

Online retail spending in the U.S. will grow about 16 per cent this year to $453 billion (U.S.), according to EMarketer Inc. Google needs shoppers to use its search engine to help protect its leading position in digital advertising, which will generate $35 billion for the company this year, according to EMarketer.

A rise in mobile shopping likely helped Google gain on Amazon in 2017 because the search engine has improved its experience on smartphones, said Chris Kelly, Survata’s chief executive officer.

Holiday spending on smartphones will increase 26 per cent this year, according to Adobe Systems Inc.

Being thought of first when searching for products helps Amazon keep its e-commerce lead