(Direct Newsline)—Internet shoppers are zipping through e-commerce sites faster than they did last year, and they’re still abandoning enough Web shopping carts to stock 1,000 Wal-Mart parking lots.

But they’re finding their way to the virtual checkout counter in greater numbers than they did this time last year.

Those are the top-line findings of the E-Commerce Site Trend Report issued by Internet advertising manager DoubleClick.

Sales conversions for e-commerce sessions rose to 4.6% of visitors in third-quarter 2004, from 2.8 % a year earlier, according to the DoubleClick report. However, the average value of those orders—$139—was 17% below last year’s third-quarter average.

The report also found that online consumers are moving faster. Web shoppers spend less time on e-commerce sites per session than they did a year ago (4.4 minutes compared to 4.9 minutes in 2003), and less time viewing individual pages of those sites (29 seconds compared to 43 seconds in Q3 2003.) Monthly visits to an e-commerce site remainedsteady year-over-year at about 1.5 sessions.

When shoppers land on their e-commerce site of choice, DoubleClick found that growing numbers of them are reaching for the search button. In Q3 2004, 9.3% of Internet sales came through Web site searches, compared to 6.6% in Q3 2003. The conversion rate for search-driven purchases was also up 2.1%, compared to 1.5% a year ago, as was the average order value for search-related purchases ($126 in Q3 2004, versus $100).

The fact that the buy-after-search conversion rate is 2.1% compared to 4.6% for all visits suggests that Web merchants have work to do in perfecting both their site search functions and their cross- and up-selling skills. The DoubleClick report said that e-commerce sites may need to make a distinction between the shopping behavior of “searchers,” who are on a mission and may be too focused for cross-selling, and “browsers,” casual online shoppers susceptible to buying more than they intended.

They will also need to concentrate on getting those full shopping carts to the point of sale. In third-quarter 2004, 8.9% of e-commerce visitors put something in an online cart, up from 5.5% the year before. But 57% of them abandoned those carts without actually making a purchase, an increase from 53% a year ago. For every e-commerce dollar spent this past quarter, DoubleClick found, $4.10 was left in the bottom of an Internet shopping cart.

“While we see very positive trends in the marketplace in terms of rising conversion rates and higher-value orders, it’s clear that there is room for further improvement,” said Eric Kirby, DoubleClick VP-strategic services, in a statement.

Internet shoppers are zipping through e-commerce sites faster than they did last year, and they’re still abandoning enough Web shopping carts to stock 1,000 Wal-Mart parking lots.

But they’re finding their way to the virtual checkout counter in greater numbers than they did this time last year.

Those are the top-line findings of the “E-Commerce Site Trend Report” issued by Internet advertising manager DoubleClick.

Sales conversions for e-commerce sessions rose to 4.6% of visitors in third-quarter 2004, from 2.8 % a year earlier, according to the DoubleClick report. However, the average value of those orders– $139– was 17% below last year’s third-quarter average.

The report also found that online consumers are moving faster. Web shoppers spend less time on e-commerce sites per session than they did a year ago (4.4 minutes compared to 4.9 minutes in 2003), and less time viewing individual pages of those sites (29 seconds compared to 43 seconds in Q3 2003.) Monthly visits to an e-commerce site remained steady year-over-year at about 1.5 sessions.

When shoppers land on their e-commerce site of choice, DoubleClick found that growing numbers of them are reaching for the search button. In Q3 2004, 9.3% of Internet sales came through Web site searches, compared to 6.6% in Q3 2003. The conversion rate for search-driven purchases was also up 2.1%, compared to 1.5% a year ago, as was the average order value for search-related purchases ($126 in Q3 2004, versus $100).

The fact that the buy-after-search conversion rate is 2.1% compared to 4.6% for all visits suggests that Web merchants have work to do in perfecting both their site search functions and their cross- and up-selling skills. The DoubleClick report said that e-commerce sites may need to make a distinction between the shopping behavior of “searchers”, who are on a mission and may be too focused for cross-selling, and “browsers”, casual online shoppers susceptible to buying more than they intended.

They will also need to concentrate on getting those full shopping carts to the point of sale. In third-quarter 2004, 8.9% of e-commerce visitors put something in an online cart, up from 5.5% the year before. But 57% of them abandoned those carts without actually making a purchase, an increase from 53% a year ago. For every e-commerce dollar spent this past quarter, DoubleClick found, $4.10 was left in the bottom of an Internet shopping cart.

“While we see very positive trends in the marketplace in terms of rising conversion rates and higher-value orders, it’s clear that there is room for further improvement,” said Eric Kirby, DoubleClick vice president of strategic services, in a statement.