New findings from Bonsai on online shopping behavior for OTC products

- A third of online shoppers of OTC products decide on a different product on the way to the shopping cart.

- 90 percent of buyers of OTC products do not visit the brand website.

- Say-Do-Gap: 93 percent of OTC shoppers use Google before buying. But only just under a quarter state this in surveys.

- Manufacturers can significantly improve their competitive position with optimized online strategies.

Hamburg/Bremen, November 20, 2023 : Many OTC manufacturers probably overestimate the importance of their own brand website for the purchase decision. This is because over 90 percent of online shoppers of OTC/over-the-counter products do not use their websites at all when making a purchase decision. But 93 percent of OTC online shoppers use Google on their path to purchase (although only 24 percent state this in surveys). Most importantly, 33 percent of online shoppers who begin their research with a brand search decide on a different OTC product on the way to the shopping cart.

"The results show: It makes sense for pharmaceutical companies to invest more in search engine marketing," says Bettina Mertens-Danowski, Head of Bonsai Health: "A lot of budget is often spent on optimizing the brand website, which is not found by online shoppers due to a lack of SEO and is therefore not used."

The new meta-study by Bonsai does not depict what online shoppers say, but what they actually do online. The study is based on more than 50 analyses with 500 million data points. It is supplemented by a Bonsai baseline study, for which OTC shoppers were asked about their online behavior.

When it comes to the perception of advertising, the actual online behavioral data also differs significantly from survey results (say-do gap). Only twelve percent of shoppers say in surveys that they have seen online advertising of the OTC product - in reality it is four times as many (48 percent). "The reason for the serious differences between what OTC shoppers say and what they actually do is easy to explain," says Jasmin Pampuch, Head of Bonsai Shopper Research: "Shoppers of OTC products do so much research online that they cannot or only insufficiently reflect the details of their search in surveys."

With the online behavioral data study, Bonsai analyzes the actual online behavior of shoppers and decodes the online path to purchase for its customers with regard to: start, progress, end, search terms used and websites and advertising used.

With the analyses, Bonsai supports OTC manufacturers in optimizing their online strategies - including Search Engine Machine (SEM) marketing. "We identify the best converting keywords and the most important online touchpoints," says Jasmin Pampuch. And Bettina Mertens-Danowski adds: "We show our clients what online shoppers are looking for in terms of category, indications and products, and derive where and how their brands need to be present so that interested parties choose the 'right' brand at the end of the shopper journey."

Contact: 

Bettina Mertens-Danowski
Head of Bonsai Health
bettina.mertens-danowski@bonsai-health.com
+49 40 6077681-26

Jasmin Pampuch
Head of Bonsai Shopper
jasmin.pampuch@bonsai-research.com
+ 49 421-46022-22

About Bonsai Health

Bonsai Health is the unit of Bonsai Research that bundles research, analysis and consulting for the pharmacy and healthcare industry. At Bonsai Health, sales data (directly from the pharmacies' merchandise management system) and survey data (from the Bonsai pharmacy panel) are combined with qualitative research on health brands and topics. www.bonsai-health.com

About Bonsai Shopper Research

Bonsai Shopper Research is the unit of Bonsai Research that combines research, analysis and advice on purchasing behavior. We decode the new shopper journey from A to Z - from the reason for purchase to payment at the checkout. We have many years of experience, exclusive sources, real online and POS behavioral data and a deep understanding of consumers and retailers. bonsai-research.com/bonsai-shopper-research