NPD Looks At Add-On Purchases

By Staff On Jun 5 2006 - 6:00am

Consumers buying big-ticket computers are much more likely to add additional products and services to their purchases than consumers buying flat-panel TVs, according to a new survey by The NPD Group.

The report, “What's In The Market Basket?” breaks out the tendencies of consumers who bought desktop and notebook PCs, inkjet printers, digital cameras and flat-panel TVs from October 2005 through January of this year.

Approximately half of those surveyed about their PC purchases reported buying additional items at the same time. Of those buying notebooks, hardware accessories were the most frequent add-on, with 73 percent adding them to their carts. Services such as extended warranties came in second place, with a 36 percent purchase rate. Software was added 23 percent of the time.

Over the same period, less than half of LCD, plasma and projection TV buyers added on to their purchases. Of those who did, 34 percent purchased an extended warranty, 29 percent added furniture and 27 percent paid for delivery and installation services. Cables and wires were included in 26 percent of TV purchases.

Male TV buyers were more apt to add on than females buyers, 62 percent to 55 percent.

Digital camera buyers appear to be a broad untapped market for warranties, with only 10 percent of consumers adding services to their purchases. The most popular add-ons were hardware and flash memory.

The full report is available by contacting NPD at (866) 444-1411 or contactnpd@npd.com.