Online shopping has overtaken store shopping in popularity, new research suggests.
A Conlumino study, commissioned by Webloyalty , questioned 2,068 consumers in January 2015 and found that 87% now shop online, compared to 78.3% who use physical stores. The study suggests that consumers spend more time in store, at 42.4 minutes per purchase, than they do when shopping online (24.8 minutes).
The study also suggested that the typical UK connected consumer spent 225 minutes a week – or nearly four hours – shopping online, visiting an average 16.4 retail sites in that time. It calculates that UK consumers save £32m in petrol by shopping online rather than driving to the store, a distance that it says would add up to 198.2m miles a week. The figure is based on a petrol price of £1.08 a litre.
Researchers calculated that total value of personal connected devices in UK households has more than doubled in the last decade, now totalling £33.4 billion after an increase of 108% from £15.8bn in 2004 – or £1,375 per household. Nearly three quarters (70.4%) of those surveyed thought technology would make shopping a more convenient experience in the future, with almost two thirds (64.2%) believing that it would make the shopping experience more efficient.
Guy Chiswick, managing director for Webloyalty Northern Europe, said: “With consumers more attracted than ever to the convenience of online shopping, retailers need to ensure that they have an attractive and convenient presence online to improve revenue. The fact that the value of connected devices has doubled in the last decade is a testament to this, and it will only continue to rise with the improvement of technology in the future. Retailers need to be prepared to provide powerful apps and tools to aid the future consumer.”
