A report from Nosto has revealed that brands which sell their products direct to consumers can benefit most from offering customers the ability to check out reviews posted by other users in order to help them decide what to buy via safe shopping online.

76 per cent of respondents to the study said that they saw reviews as being especially influential over their e-commerce decisions, especially when it comes to buying products in the fashion category.

70 per cent said that discounts were also high on the agenda in swaying their choices when shopping with brands that have their own transactional sites, while 61 per cent cited product pictures as an important part of this process.

Almost two-thirds of those questioned said that integration with social media services was also a helpful asset for any sites looking to sell goods direct to consumers, since it allowed them to see what others were saying about the brand before going through with a purchase.

Another interesting fact revealed by the study is that a quarter of people are regularly taking advantage of voice-powered digital assistants to buy online, showing that this route is really gaining momentum in spite of only being around for the last few years.

The importance of multichannel retail was reaffirmed in the report, with 80 per cent of consumers saying that they interact with brands across a number of different platforms rather than simply sticking to one.

53 per cent use the official website of a brand to take care of most of their needs, while just over a tenth said that social media was their first port of call. This indicates that brands must not neglect their websites if they want to keep winning over consumers.