Marketers are demanding greater ROI on every advertising Rupee spent. Rs 218 crores worth of advertising will be spent on advertising online in 2006-07 and all research highlights that this is the most accountable medium by far, the most interactive and suited across all verticals.

There are 38.5 million Internet users today and that number is all set to touch 100 million by 2007-08 with the ecommerce industry set to jump to Rs 2300 crores in 2006-07 from the current Rs 1180 crores in 2005-06.

To better understand the consumer 'referral' behaviour across shopping categories and preferences on how netizens find shopping sites online Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) mandated this study to Cross Tab Marketing Services, a pioneer in the field of Online Research. The study was conducted in March 2006 with a base of 1240 respondents who shop online.

Referrals given by online shoppers work because they come from a trusted source because the messenger, the consumer, is more credible and trusted than the advertiser/marketer. A 2004 Forrester /Intelliseek study found 'recommendations from others' and even 'consumer opinions posted online' significantly outranked TV , radio , print and online advertising trust scale. This is a big deal because trust and persuasion share a symbiotic relationship with 93% of Online Shoppers having affirmed that they would recommend online shopping , it significantly increase ROI as satisfied customers started talking and recommending products and services. Interestingly 31% having found a shopping site through word of mouth referrals and 18% shopped on a particular website because it was referred.

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