News

Online shopping activity moves ahead of in-store retail action

June 30, 2016

Americans are buying more items online and more than half, 51 percent, prefer ecommerce to brick-and-mortar shopping, according to a new BigCommerce report.

Not only are consumers more active online but they're buying more online, with a 15 percent spike in the first quarter of 2016, compared to a year ago.

Consumers in cities and metro areas prefer online over in-store shopping as they're spending 40 percent of annual budget online while rural counterparts are spending 34 percent of budget online.

When it comes to the sexes, men are spending $200 more than females online. Fifty-one percent of millennials regret at least one online purchase and 30 percent of consumers are open to buying via social media opportunities.

"Shoppers are dedicating more of their time and budget to online shopping, and the frequency and number of online stores they purchase from has grown exponentially during the past few years," said Troy Cox, senior product director at BigCommerce, in a release. "With ecommerce now such a prevalent part of America's buying habits, retailers have an incredible opportunity to reach more customers by opening their business to new channels."

Here are some more highlights from the study:

• 67 percent of millennials and 56 percent of Gen X prefer to search and purchase on ecommerce sites rather than in-store; 41 percent of baby boomers and 28 percent of seniors prefer online to offline shopping.
• 80 percent make online purchases at least once a month; 30 percent make a purchase at least once a week.
• Nearly half (48 percent) of online shoppers have bought or spent more than planned when shopping online.
• 43 percent of online shoppers have made a purchase while in bed.
• A quarter of online shoppers (25 percent) have made an online purchase from a brick-and-mortar store.
• 23 percent have made an online purchase at the office, while 20 percent have purchased from the bathroom or while in the car.
• 66 percent have decided not to buy an item because of shipping costs; 72 percent of females and 59 percent of males have decided to abandon their purchase because of shipping costs.
• Half of respondents cite not being able to touch, feel or try a product (49 percent) as one of their least favorite aspects of online shopping; 34 percent said difficult-to-return items and waiting for delivery were also a pain.
• Respondents were most open to making a purchase on Facebook (20 percent), closely followed by Pinterest (17 percent), Instagram (14 percent), Twitter (12 percent) and Snapchat (10 percent).