Top Places to Shop
The rise of ecommerce in recent years cannot be denied. In fact, the ecommerce share of retail sales has been increasing over the past few years and is forecast to grow even further in the coming years.
But what does that mean for shopping habits?
The latest data shows that despite the internet age we live in, brick-and-mortar stores remain consumers’ top place to buy things. Nearly half (47 percent) of global consumers say that they carry out the majority of their daily and weekly purchases by visiting a physical store in person, making brick-and-mortar stores the most popular place to shop.
The preference for visiting physical stores is driven by consumers’ unwillingness to pay delivery fees. In fact, as many as 65 percent of them say they shop in-store to avoid them. This is also in line with the top reasons people shop online, led by free delivery options offered by retailers.
Another 60 percent of shoppers say they shop in-store because they enjoy having their purchases in hand immediately, as opposed to having to wait when shopping online.
Popular Places to Shop Online
The internet and the growth of ecommerce are changing the way consumers shop. Though visiting a store in person, picking out items of interest, and purchasing them on the spot continue to prove popular among consumers, it’s slowly becoming less prevalent.
As the ecommerce share of retail sales increases year after year, it should come as no surprise that, more and more, consumers are taking to online shopping to acquire items.
Aside from visiting a physical retail shop, consumers today are also taking advantage of the internet, which is why many consumers’ top places to shop are now online.
The most popular places to shop online include mobile or smartphones, which 41 percent of consumers say they use for their weekly and daily shopping. This number has been rising in recent years, growing from 24 percent in 2019 to 39 percent in mid-2021 before rising again at the end of the year.
PCs and tablets are also very popular places to shop for consumers, with 31 percent and 22 percent of them using these shopping channels respectively.
Even though they aren’t as popular as shopping on smartphones or in-store, usage of PCs and tablets has also been increasing. In 2019, 23 percent of consumers used their PCs to shop, and just 16 percent did so on their tablets.