Internet searches for brown goods such as computers, televisions, and MP3 players fell by almost a quarter in June, according to new research from Greenlight.
The study from the specialist search and social marketing consultancy found there were 11.4m brown goods searches in June, down by 24% compared to the 14.9m carried out in May. Those in turn were down by one million, when compared to the 16.5m carried out in March.
The most searched for goods related to entertainment products such as MP3 players, personal video players and iPods, as well as for brand names such as Logitech and Apple. Some 4.3m searches were carried out for these items, equivalent to 38% of all searches in the category. But this was still almost two million down compared to March, when there were 6.2m searches for entertainment products.
There were 1.2m searches for iPods, but this was a fall from the 1.8m searches in March.
However, Greenlight predicts there will be an increase in searches in the months leading up to Christmas as more consumers research electrical goods as potential goods.
The largest beneficiary of natural search – the rankings that appear in search engine results because of their relevance to the queries – was Wikipedia, the most visible website for brown goods-related searches. But the best-performing retailer was Amazon, with 57% visibility through ranking. PC World followed with 31%. However Comet and Dixons both fared poorly, coming in at 23rd place and 41st place respectively.
In paid search, JohnLewis became the most visible advertiser, with 50% visibility. It was followed by Amazon, at 41% down by 2% since Greenlight’s March report.
And in social media, Amazon was the most followed brand, with 73,000 Facebook fans. But because it only produced one post in June it missed out on vital potential interaction with consumers.
The most interactive brand was Very, which produced 486 posts and tweets in June. Greenlight says the brand interacted well with consumers, answering queries and complaints promptly. It also promoted new lines and special offers.
