YOUR LIFE.

SHOPPERS INFLUENCING OTHER SHOPPERS

The line between online and offline shopping continues to blur and become more fractured, suggests a survey by Bazaarvoice, Inc., Austin, Texas. Most consumers seek out multiple touchpoints toward a purchase decision. Shoppers, through user-generated content, influence other shoppers at all stages in the purchase journey, with social media playing an increasingly important role in discovery, research, and conversion.

"Not having a robust omnichannel strategy is now a key barrier to success," says Ainslie Fincham, marketing director at Urban Barn. "We work to make every avenue available to our shoppers helpful in making a decision to convert, no matter where they end up making a purchase--be it in-store, online, or via social media."

Consumer survey highlights include:

Two-thirds prefer omnichannel shopping. When asked what mode of shopping they feel happiest in, 66% of shoppers say a hybrid of both in-store and online, 25% say instore, and eight percent say online.

Almost two-thirds of shoppers use their smartphone in-store-to look at price comparisons (69%), product reviews (60%), advice from friends/family (33%), and product demos (30%).

Age matters. Of those aged 25-34, 75% enjoy a hybrid of shopping methods, but for those aged 65+, it is 56%.

Customer voices power commerce. User-generated content forms seven of the top 10 of research shoppers prefer to utilize before buying: product ratings, written reviews from verified buyers, expert reviews, questions and answers, recommendations from friends/family, shopper photos of the product, and visual reviews from verified buyers.

Shoppers are influenced by social. One in five say they shop on social media, mostly from Facebook shops (41%), via influences' Instagram stories (37%), and via ads on Instagram (36%).

Online research is universal. Both online (79%) and in-store (59%) shoppers conduct research online prior to purchasing.

As always, price point is key. After seeing a product online, 80% are more likely to go in-store when it has a high price, 54% want to check the quality and 46% prefer to get instant ownership.

"Consumers are sawier than ever before, researching products before buying them using every touchpoint available, making shopping less segmented than ever," says Zarina Lam Stanford, Bazaarvoice CMO. 'This allows businesses to utilize the voice of the consumer to their advantage.

Providing it online, on social media, and even in-store presents the research materials that shoppers crave no matter where they are."

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