Fully 91 percent of online shoppers polled said it was "important" or "very important" for retailers to provide complete product information to allow them to research products online, according to "2007 Survey of Online Consumer Product Research Habits," a new study conducted for WebCollage, MarketingCharts reports.

Additional findings from the study:

• 82 percent of the shoppers surveyed reported they were more likely to return to retail websites that were able to provide them with complete product information to do research and make purchases in the future.
• 71 percent said that they would be more likely to purchase products in the physical store of the retailer whose website they used to perform product research.
• 44 percent of shoppers noted, however, that retail websites did not have the most complete information on manufacturers' products, and one-third (33 percent) expressed concern that retailer product content was out of date.
• In the search for more complete, up-to-date content, 37 percent of shoppers said they would visit a competitor's retail website to find the information they needed. Some 55 percent said they would go to a manufacturer's website to find that information.

"The survey reinforces results from WebCollage testing […] that shows when consumers see enhanced product information from manufacturers on retail websites their conversions increase by more than 80 percent," said Jed Alpert, vice-president of marketing for WebCollage.