Consumer Behavior

Consumers back in stores but not thrilled with experience

Adobe Stock

February 14, 2023

Consumers are back in physical retail stores but a good number, 40%, say shopping is "less enjoyable" than it was before the pandemic hit in the spring of 2020.

That's a prime finding of a Theatro survey that also revealed that 63% of consumers are doing most of their shopping at in-store retail.

Those citing a less enjoyable experience blamed a lack of staff and poorly trained staff, according to a press release on the findings.

The survey, which polled 600 U.S. adults, was conducted in January 2023.

"Consumers prefer physical retail for a lot of reasons, such as the ability to see and feel products before buying them, and the immediate gratification of taking a product home. But they've also become more accustomed to the advantages of e-commerce, such as avoiding long lines and having an almost infinite amount of product information at their fingertips. This makes them more impatient with the in-store experience," Theatro CEO Chris Todd said in the release.

Additional findings include:

• Americans prefer shopping in retail stores to shopping online for reasons like being able to see and feel products before buying them.
• Retail shoppers don't enjoy shopping as much as they did before COVID for reasons like inadequate staffing and poorly trained staff.
• Consumers express a variety of frustrations with their experiences shopping at retail, some of which were magnified during the recent holiday shopping season.
• 91% of consumers said they do at least half of all their shopping in physical retail stores compared to online, with nearly two-thirds saying they do most (37%) or all (27%) of their shopping in stores; 28% of respondents said they do about half of their shopping online and half at physical stores.
• 87% of consumers said they shop in retail stores at least once weekly, with nearly a third saying they shop in retail stores either once daily (19%) or multiple times per day (13%).
• Among those respondents who said they do most or all of their shopping at physical stores, 76% said they prefer in-store shopping because they like being able to see and touch the product; 44% said they like the immediate gratification of taking the products they buy home with them; 25% said they like the social aspect of shopping; 21% said they like being able to ask questions and get help with purchases from in-store employees; and 20% said that it's easier to return items at a physical store.
• Among the 9% of respondents who said they do most or all of their shopping online, the majority (62%) cited convenience as a reason for this preference.