Consumers who search online for televisions and digital cameras spend 10% more when making their in-store purchases compared with those who did not use a search engine, according to a Yahoo!/ChannelForce survey. The in-person survey was conducted in February and March 2007 at Best Buy, Circuit City, Fry's and Target stores.

Three-quarters of respondents who researched their purchases before visiting a retail location used the Internet as their main source of information. The leading online resources were retail Web sites, manufacturer Web sites and search engines.

Those who searched online before visiting a retail store spent an average of $31 more on digital cameras, and $139 more on TVs, than those who did not search online first.

Over three-quarters of consumer electronics purchases are influenced by online research, according to a joint study by Yahoo! and the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), conducted in fall 2006 by Hall and Partners. That translated into $25.1 billion of the $32.5 billion in sales the CEA measured in 2006.

What the Internet gives in information, it can also take away in sales. Online shoppers may visit one retailer's site to research products and then go to another retailer, online or offline, to make the purchase.

Over four in 10 respondents to Forrester Research's annual consumer study, published in May 2007, said they bought an item at a different retailer than the one whose Web site they used for research.

Forrester found that, after doing their research online, 51% of respondents went to a different local retailer because they just "want it now," rather than wait for the product to arrive on their doorsteps. Another 42% went offline to buy an item because they wanted to see and touch it before making the purchase. Only 17% of respondents bought offline because they found a better price there.