NEW YORK – Consumers who research a product online, then go to a brick-and-mortar store to buy it, now account for nearly $390 billion, or 16 percent of total retail sales, according to a new report from Forrester Research Inc.

Marketing Daily reported that price, rather than the retailer's brand name, are the motivation factors behind cross-channel buyers' purchasing behavior. "Cross-channel shoppers are gaining in number and influence," the report said, with 51 percent of online shoppers saying they have crossed channels in the last three months, an 8 percent gain since 2004.

Forrester expects cross-channel sales to grow 17 percent per year over the next five years. By 2012, it expects cross-channel sales to reach $1.1 trillion, or 38 percent of total retail sales.

But only 57 percent of cross-channel shoppers purchased the product from the retailer they researched online. Those who switched did so mainly because another store had the item for less money.

The report found that cross-channel shoppers have four common traits:

• They are becoming more mainstream, in terms of age and how long they've been shopping on the Internet
• They most often use the Web for high-ticket purchases
• They need it now. More than half (51 percent) say they wanted the product immediately and headed to a traditional retailer to make their purchase
• They want to pay less