A new study from the Electronic Retailing Association finds that almost half of the adults surveyed bought an item through an electronic channel (online, infomercial, radio, home shopping TV) in the last year - and prior to the purchase many buyers saw the product promoted via other channels.

The study also found that 60 percent of online consumers, 42 percent of radio buyers, 32 percent of TV infomercial consumers and 21 percent of home shoppers reported seeing the item in stores, catalogs or in advertisements before making their purchase electronically, MediaPost reports. TV shoppers (70 percent) and radio shoppers (80 percent) were the most likely groups to use another form of electronic shopping.

The study also found that the most popular product categories for electronic purchases were cosmetics and sports/fitness items.