Majority of online shoppers hit Web stores weekly

83% of online buyers shop on the web at least once a week, according to the new Online Shopper Intelligence Study from Compete Inc. The web analytics firm conducted the study of more than 3,000 online purchasers from May to July.

31% of respondents check out retailer Twitter and Facebook pages, Compete says. Additionally, consumers often use the Internet for research purposes but purchase offline. When shopping for electronics, for example, 44% of respondents say they research online but buy offline. Consumers say they buy offline to avoid shipping fees (62%), to try on or touch an item (57%) and purchase items immediately (50%).

Consumers say that e-retailers can do more to encourage online purchases. 87% said retailers should offer free shipping, while 63% wanted free returns and 42% sought faster shipping options. 51% said they would shop online more often if Internet retailers honored in-store coupons.

The two most popular online shopping categories were entertainment products, defined as movies, music, video games, e-media and electronic books, and apparel, Compete says.