A recent eMarketer analysis of consumer shopping and purchasing data indicated that many shoppers are searching for information about products online, even if they eventually purchase in-store. And those searches often begin on Amazon.

Citing various data points, including some from a report issued earlier this year by content management company Salsify, Amazon inferred that shoppers today typically begin seeking product information and comparisons via an online search. Salsify found that 41 percent of digital shoppers in the U.S. will simply search for a product on Amazon and then buy the product from the online retailer, while other research shows that this percentage is closer to 60 percent.

“No other method of search, including Google, drove as many purchasers to a specific ecommerce platform,” eMarketer reported. Indeed, about 28 percent of shoppers who began their search for a product on Google eventually purchased that product via Amazon, according to the Salsify research.

The takeaway, according to eMarketer, is that because U.S. shoppers’ digital habits are moving toward Amazon as an information resource, brands should work toward ensuring “their products are properly represented on Amazon so that they show up higher in search results.”

“You can’t afford to not work with Amazon,” Jie Cheng, director of digital and ecommerce at the Campbell Snacks Division of Campbell Soup Co., told eMarketer. “Ecommerce is a revenue channel, but it's a brand-building channel for marketing as well. The strategy [with Amazon] is to accelerate revenue growth while building our brand, especially on Amazon, given the reach of the platform.”

To read the eMarketer analysis, click here.