Most online shoppers are using this one tool before they decide to buy (TGT, WMT, AMZN)

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Online shoppers are still dependent on search engines when shopping.

Almost 40% of worldwide e-commerce traffic in January 2016 came from search engines, according to a report from SimilarWeb. This includes both organic search (all listings of any search query) and paid search (promoted listings and ads on search results pages).

Therefore, brands and retailers can rest assured that a significant portion of shoppers are still using search engines before they make a purchase.

Approximately 39% of all global e-commerce traffic came from search, with 35% organic and 4% paid search. Another 35% of the traffic was direct, which meant customers went right to the retailer's site. Finally, 20% came from referrals, or links put on sites other than search engines.

The increase in search traffic likely stems from the growth in retailers' digital ad spending in the fourth quarter of 2015. In the U.S., search ad spending climbed 18% year-over-year, compared to just 5% growth in the year-ago period, according to IgnitionOne.

The value in search traffic depends on variety. Dependence on search algorithms creates even ground for smaller merchants and e-commerce giants, the latter of which can spend far more on advertising. Therefore, consumers' willingness to use search increases the chances that they would visit the sites of specialty retailers as opposed to titans such as Amazon, Target, and Walmart.

And this search traffic tangibly generates sales. Free search results represented 23.6% of U.S. e-commerce orders in 2014, the largest share of all marketing channels, according to a Custora report. Paid search results were second at 16.3%.

In order to maximize their sales, retailers and brands should make efforts to increase their visibility on search engines and invest in promoted listings. 

Exposure within search results is just one way that retailers are changing their approach in order to reach more consumers. Social media and other forms of marketing are also very much in play.

Cooper Smith, senior research analyst at BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on new e-commerce strategies that looks at some of the top trends affecting retailers at each stage of the purchase funnel and how they're responding to those shifts.

BI Intelligence

Here are some of the key takeaways:

• Within digital, consumers are spreading out their retail purchasing across channels, forcing retailers to spread out their online marketing budgets. Paid search, affiliate marketing, and email all increased their share of e-commerce referrals last year, according to Custora.
• Paid search especially stood out as a major source of spending by retailers. Search ad spending grew 18% YoY in Q4 2015, according to IgnitionOne.
• Mobile continues to drive the most sales growth for retailers, but sales still aren't keeping up with retail traffic. IBM found that smartphone traffic beat both tablet and desktop, making up 53% of all online traffic. But mobile still only accounted for 29% of all online sales.
• Retailers only have themselves to blame for underperformance on mobile, as many still aren't using best practices for mobile websites and apps. Only 60% of the top 100 global retailers currently have a dedicated mobile website, according to The Search Agency.
• The increase in online shopping has put stress on the shipping and logistics industry. The number of UPS ground packages delivered on time during the holidays fell from 97% in 2014 to 91% in 2015, according to ShipMatrix.
• Retailers are beginning to explore alternative shipping options. Earlier this year Gilt Groupe switched its primary ground shipper from UPS to Newgistics.
• Retailers that can't afford to invest in alternative shipping options are offering consumers more fulfillment options using what many of them do have — brick-and-mortar stores. Buying online and picking up in-store, also called click and collect, made up about 30% of e-commerce sales at Sam's Club in 2015.

In full, the report:

• Looks at how retailers are shifting their ad spending and marketing efforts to keep up with online retail behavior
• Identifies which channels are top performers for referral traffic and new opportunities for reaching consumers
• Analyzes how retailers are responding to the rise of mobile purchasing and where they're falling short
• Examines the evolving delivery landscape and the aggressive moves retailers are making to become their own shipping carriers

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