My wife and I were talking yesterday about where she shops online. I sometimes ask her questions about her online habits, because she represents a typical online demographic. Plus she does not hold out on her thoughts on what she does and does not like about my clients websites, fan pages, and other marketing materials. It is like having my own mini focus group in my house.

This discussion got me thinking. Always a dangerous trend for anyone who has not been reading this blog long enough to know. Whoa! My thoughts are not exactly…typical. Anyways, my question is where do marketers buy their products? What online stores do they peruse? Why?

After all, if we know where marketers go to shop for their own needs online then either the products or the advertisements must be so good the store was worth the purchase. Ooh! Good idea Andy! Thanks self-congratulatory self!

So, I hit up marketers on Skype and Facebook to get some answers to these pressing questions.  Keep in mind that this is not a statistical survey with lots of numbers. If you need those then 1…2…3… huh! Fuhget about it! Read the answers!

Where The Marketers Shop Online

Robert Blakely: Only thing i shop for online right now is comic books through Yardsellr

Ming Johanson Everywhere… thinkgeek.com
Mark Hultgren: Amazon 🙂 (Note: Mark is an Amazon affiliate as well)
Stephen M. Johnson ThinkGeek.com
Kelli Miller: the biggest bulk is done at Amazon just because I usually have credit there from my affiliate sales. However, I do a good portion of office supply shopping at office max. Clothes and things for the boys are usually Walmart. I also like eBay for certain things
Leah Butler-Smith I shop around depending on what I need or want but Amazon is a fav just cos I know the drill and I know what the expect
Oz D du Soleil Shop online? When I think about it, eBay has been my main place for the past few years.
Angela Chen Shui: Amazon too.
Amber Rose Gallagher Just getting into Zappos! Found awesome dance fitness shoes for as low as they go. You can check.out the link on my page. Just posted it yesterday.
Marcelle Allen  Just got a custom giraffe apron from etsy.com. Costco.com and amazon are great too.

Where The Marketers Shop Online Analysis

While the overwhelming majority of answers were Amazon and Ebay (including some repeats on the stores that were not necessary to include here), there were also some places I never would have thought about like ThinkGeek and Yardsellr.
The marketers shop at the same places online, because it was convenient for them in most cases. Additionally, the rest of the
marketers responses were about shopping for their needs.
What’s your point Andy? You talk on and on! Come on MAN! “Well, my point is very simple,” Andy says in a cool, calm, and altogether charming voice! Oh wait! Stop narrating!
When marketers do their own shopping, they do so because it is convenient for them, and they have a need for a particular product. When my wife buy’s Abe’s Books she does so for the same reason. So, if they know what they want when buying, then why don’t they remember when selling? Or do they?
Maybe we should  make this easy and boil down all marketing to these three major principles.
  1. Make your shopping process easy and understandable.
  2. Have something others need, not something you like.
  3. Study what others are doing right so you can replicate and improve upon their success.

Everything else is a matter of marketing systems put in place to support these three original goals.  That is exactly why it matters where marketers shop online.

What are your thoughts? Do you sell like you buy? Do you agree with the idea that it is important to know where marketers shop online?