A study conducted by JupiterMedia for iProspect revealed that nearly half of shoppers who research their purchases online wind up making their purchases offline. That makes some sense. You may find the television or stereo you’re interested in while conducting an online search, but you’ll want to see and hear the products perform before plunking down your hard-earned money.

The problem is that most organizations aren’t tracking these purchases, which means they’re grossly underestimating the impact of their online offerings. “It’s the minority of companies that are tracking offline conversions,” according to iProspect President Rob Murray, quoted in a ClickZ News article. “It dramatically impacts the amount of money people budget for these campaigns.”

Getting to that information requires a process that queries shoppers about whether they researched their purchases online, then tracking the responses. It sounds like a lot of work—particularly since the heavy lifting falls to people like retail sales clerks. But without the information, companies could seriously under-invest in their online efforts.