Shoppers who land on retail sites through Facebook or Twitter are less likely to make purchases. Their conversion rates average 1.2 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively. Per average order, however, they spend more than those who come through Google. In fact, shoppers who originated from Twitter spend on average $121.33 — the highest average order value (AOV) of all, according to a recent study.

The RichRelevance study of more than 200 million shopping sessions provides insight into how Americans browse and shop online, and how their behavior varies, depending on whether they arrive at retail sites through social networks or search engines.

The National Retail Association reports that 37 percent of consumers plan to make online purchases this holiday season.

While Traffic from Twitter and Facebook to retail sites continues to grow dramatically, these networks still account for less than 1 percent of total traffic, according to Diane Kegley, RichRelevance’s CMO.

It may seem a bit odd that Twitter would produce the highest AOV, but when adding “intent” into the equation it makes sense. Consumers on Facebook and Twitter don’t intend to make a purchase, but rather share information. A spontaneous shopper might see an ad and get pulled into the retailer’s Web site. The shopper’s personality, combined with impulse and influence from the ad, prompts the sale or conversion.

Facebook continues to grow the most of any channel as a source of retail shopping traffic — contributing 92 percent more in August 2011, compared with the prior year.

The study also finds that organic search engine traffic remains a primary source for retailers, driving 18 percent of all traffic in August. Google accounts for the bulk — 81 percent of organic search traffic to major retailers. The surprise: AOL is identified as producing the highest conversion rate, slightly edging out Yahoo for highest AOV at $105.27. Although they spend more, only 1.7 percent of consumers arrive on retail sites from AOL. Yahoo and Bing account for 9.7 percent and 7.5 percent of traffic, respectively.

This AOL stat may also seem out of place until considering that the engine and portal represents one of the oldest among the group. In 2008, Saul Hansell at The New York Times ran a piece asking for help to identify who uses AOL and why. More than a decade ago, citing these numbers for the portal might have made a bigger splash, but it turns out the answer points to habit.

An older generation that might have more discretionary funds, tends to use the site. Retailers need to adapt to the way consumers will spend their share of the NFR estimated $450 billion in holiday online spending. That might mean wrapping e-commerce services around Facebook, Google, or direct email links.

Think of the data as a “wake-up call” to find new ways to reach and keep consumers satisfied, said Kegley. Also consider the drop in AOV from $128.27 to $116.58, for which RichRelevance attributes the decline to budgeting constraints and shipping costs that encourage smaller purchases.

A 1992 U.S. Supreme Court decision found that, in general, out-of-state retailers can’t be required to collect sales taxes unless Congress changes the law. The justices noted in a 1992 case called Quill v. North Dakota: “Congress is now free to decide whether, when, and to what extent the States may burden interstate mail order concerns with a duty to collect use taxes.”

In June 2010, Representative Bill Delahunt, a Democrat from Massachussetts tried to end  your days of tax-free Internet shopping. Tod Cohen, eBay’s vice president for government relations said in response to Delahunt’s ultimately failed legislation: “At a time when unemployment rates are high and small businesses across the country are closing shop, we are confident that Congress will protect small Internet retailers and the consumers they serve from another Internet tax scheme.” Michigan 14th District Congressman John Conyers was a co-sponor of Delahunt’s “”Main Street Fairness Act.”

The National Conference of State Legislatures applauded Delahunt’s legislation, saying he should be commended for allowing states to collect as much as $23 billion in new taxes. So did the Retail Industry Leaders Association, whose tax committee members include Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Costco, AutoZone, Target, and IKEA.

Michael Mazerov, a senior fellow with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, believes a federal law would be the only way for states to collect the taxes due them from online purchases. Mazerov explains why Delahunt’s lesgilation bombed: “It’s tough legislation politically because you’re asking Congress to pass legislation where they will be unfairly and inaccurately criticized as imposing a new tax,” Mazerov said.

On your Michigan income tax return, you are supposed to fill out that line where it asks you to calculate your Michigan “use” tax for the items you purchased online. Yes, this means you. The clothes. The electronics. The music. The Picasso. Whatever you purchased online and did not pay sales tax on, Michigan asks that you fess up and voluntarily pay your fair share of income taxes.

Stop laughing. Of course you didn’t fill out that line on your state income tax form. You’re not alone.

So many people in Illinois have been skipping that line of their tax forms that the state legislature just passed a new law that requires online retailers to collect sales tax for items sold in the state. Why? Well, officials in the state calculate that each year they lose out on over $150 million in sales tax money that Illinois residents avoid by making purchases through online retailers who don’t collect the sales tax money.

Politicos in the Land of Lincoln have been at war with Amazon.com to try to force the retailer to collect sales tax for items sold to residents of that state. Various studies estimate that Internet sales in the United States could grow from between $150 billion in 2009 to $250 billion by 2014. Illinois needed a law to help the state take advantage of tax revenues generated by that new economy. “The tax rules for the Internet economy just weren’t the same as the rules for brick-and-mortar stores,” writes Kelsey Snell of the National Journal. “Online shoppers could instantly compare prices between hundreds of different retailers and adding even a dollar or two in sales tax could price a seller out of competition.”

Illinois Governor Democrat Pat Quinn signed the bill into law and within hours Amazon.com and other online retailers stopped doing business in Illinois. No more Amazon affiliate programs or partnerships. Kelsey Snell writes, “And now states have effectively been pitted against one another. Lawmakers are being forced to choose between collecting the taxes they are due and risking the loss of thriving companies—and the jobs and income-tax revenue they contribute—to neighboring states.”

Illinois is not the only state targeting Amazon.com, eBay and other online retailers. To date, the outcomes for the Amazon laws are mixed, and some state governors and legislatures have been reluctant to give their support. When North Carolina and Rhode Island passed similar laws, Amazon and Overstock cancelled their affiliate programs in both states, and some online retailers indicated the move would put them out of business. The governors of California and Hawaii vetoed Amazon laws, and legislatures in Colorado and Virginia are likely to defeat proposals to tax Internet sales. But other states, including Oklahoma, are going ahead with Internet tax measures.

Providence Business News reported after the tax was passed there: “Officials at the R.I. Department of Revenue “do not believe that there has been any sales tax collected as a result of the Amazon legislation.”

From the looks of what’s happening in DC and Illinois, rather than risk the ire of the American people by imposing what could be perceived as a “new tax,” online sales tax bills will continue to be introduced in legislatures across the country. It’s unlikely that Michigan’s Republican-controlled legislature or our Republican governor would move to get an “Amazon tax” passed in our state. When Representative Bill Delahunt introduced his legislation in Congress he had multiple sponsors, not a single one of whom was a Republican.

In November of 2010, The Macomb Daily editorialized that “Online retailers should have to pay sales taxes.” The paper’s editorial team writes, “It’s a no-brainer. Charge the taxes at the source, and begin to level the field between online stores and those around the corner.”

The first comment by a reader?

“Figures, The Macomb Daily pushing for more taxes on the residents of Michigan. Who do they think will be paying these taxes, cetainly not the retailers.”

True enough. Even though Michigan’s legislature has no plans to introduce an Amazon Law, Billboard magazine reported recently that the proliferation of such laws was resulting in higher prices charged by retailers for music purchased online, including CDs and digital music. Billboard reports, “Many digital music companies have either affiliates or operations in multiple states.”

Our family shops our conscience as much as possible. It’s not fun, and it’s not pretty, but where you shop matters for a multitude of reasons. I just found out that one my favorite restaurants, Chipotle, is on the HRC equality hit list, as is Trader Joe’s. TJ’s scored 15 in the most recent HRC Guide. That’s 15 out of a possible 100. In college, that would be a big, fat, red F at the top of the paper with some kind of note written in red about the immediate need to see the instructor.

The Human Rights Campaign has just released its 2011 buyers’ guide. The guide rates 615 companies on a variety of criteria, including anti-discrimination, protections, domestic partner benefits, diversity training and transgender-inclusive benefits. According to the Guide, “any business with 500 or more U.S. employees can be rated.” The HRC researched 1,800 companies in 2010 for the 2011 Guide, but only about one-third of companies researched were willing to verify company policies for the HRC for the purposes of publishing the Guide.

You can download a copy in PDF format here. This tool rates companies on their treatment of LGBT employees and, by extension, consumers. The HRC has continued to refine its criteria, creating a very complex picture of corporate responsibility toward the LGBT community. It includes protection based on sexual orientation and gender identity, benefits provided, and actions taken that harm equality.

Some of the big box businesses here in Ann Arbor that are rated include:

Borders (100=best score possible in terms of HRC Guide workplace equality scores)

Starbuck’s (100)

GameStop (100)

BP (100)

Shell Oil (100)

Staples (100)

Bank of America (100)

KeyBank (100)

Office Max (95)

Comcast (95)

CVS (90)

Whole Foods (85)

Fifth-Third (75= this score or lower and the HRC considers that company making a passable effort to promote equality.)

Kroger (75)

Toys ‘r’ Us (70)

Domino’s Pizza (60)

Office Depot (45=this score or lower and HRC considers that company one which does not promote equality.)

Wal-Mart (40)

Williams-Sonoma (30)

Chipotle (30)

Wendy’s (30)

Meijer (20)

Trader Joe’s (15)

Then there is the GoodGuide Vote with your dollars site. For the most part, the GG guide determines whether a company supports Democratic or Republican candidates, and what portion of a company’s political donations are given to individuals versus Political Action Committees (PACs). This presents a conundrum, because while the HRC Guide gives Dominos Pizza a passing grade, the company donates to primarily Republican candidates. The same is true of Staples. That company donated 75 percent of its campaign gifts to Republican candidates. Kroger is also donating to Republican candidates, including candidates who are anti-choice. It’s not millions of dollars that Kroger is giving, but the recent debate about the redefinition of “rape,” should give a woman shopping at Kroger pause. One vote could get something crazy like that passed, and a $20,000 donation from Kroger could get the Republican member of Congress willing to cast that vote elected.

Frankly, there’s a lot of overlap between the two lists, but it matters more to me that in 2010 Home Depot gave $1.7 million dollars to Republican candidates, several of whom who espoused anti-choice, anti-gay, platforms, than whether Home Depot practices equality in the workplace. Equality in society takes precedence, in my mind. What’s an Ann Arbor shopper of conscience to do? The right thing, of course: stop eating at Chipotle (sob) and buying from Trader Joe’s (sniff, sniff). What’s the Ann Arbor shopper going to do?

Comment anonymously and let us all know.