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SHOPPING LIFE

Online retailers are shifting their marketing from traditional advertising to less expensive tools such as Facebook, Twitter and e-mail as they seek market share or just work to retain customers, according to an industry study released this week.

Conducted by Internet analysis firm Forrester Research for Shop.org – the online arm of the trade group National Retail Federation – the survey found that merchants believe online business is better suited to withstand an economic downturn than physical stores or catalogs, though they acknowledge challenges for both.

The study involved 117 online retailers polled between Feb. 18 and April 1.

The companies, which Shop.org didn’t name, reported scaling back hiring and their increasingly expensive search marketing programs, which include paying for top billing in the results consumers see for their Web searches.

Online merchants whose business is beating expectations will likely fuel much of the e-commerce investments in the coming months, the survey found.

“Online retailers want … to be more efficient in getting a bigger bang for the buck,” said Scott Silverman, executive director of Shop.org.

Developing social media marketing requires some investment in personnel, he said, but many merchants see big opportunities to spread a positive message about their brand for relatively low cost.

A growing number of stores and manufacturers, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and General Mills Inc., are encouraging bloggers to test their products and write about them on their sites.

“They’re like ambassadors,” Silverman said.

He said businesses active online remain optimistic.

“It’s safe to say that it continues to be a bright spot in the economy,” he said.

Forrester Research forecast in January that total U.S. online sales, where growth has been slowing for a few years, will increase 11 percent to $156.1 billion in 2009, compared with a 13 percent gain in 2008.

For 2010, Forrester projects 13 percent growth, and then 10 percent growth in 2011, 9 percent in 2012 and 8 percent in 2013. The figures exclude online travel sales.

Associated Press