Online Buying Versus In-Person Shopping

 

There’s a lot of focus after the holidays on sales numbers – were they up?  Flat?  Did the big box stores beat the little guys?  Which categories did the best?  In the midst of all of the numbers comes an interesting study from Allen & Gerritsen that says while more and more consumers want to BUY online, most want to SHOP in actual retail stores ‘for inspiration.’

In the study (via MediaPost) 400 shoppers were polled the week after Christmas and 51% said they visited retail stores to get ideas for holiday gifts.  Forty-three percent asked family and friends for gift ideas, and a third looked through catalogs.

People are very satisfied with their online shopping experience, and the study seems to show that consumers increasing get the connection between online and brick and mortar.  In fact, 12% of respondents went to a store, couldn’t get the item they wanted, and were redirected to order it online, and 82% of those people were satisfied with the transaction overall.

Catherine Kolodij, VP/Audience Intelligence for A&G said:

“People are just getting more and more comfortable with the idea that the store is a kind of a showroom, where they can look at a product and ask for expert help, while online, they can compare prices, and get a sense of what other consumers say.”

So how does this translate to the local level?  Do your retail clients do online sales, and do they understand how consumers may be using both their store and their site?  Definitely something to keep in mind as you help your clients design a campaign.