Airship’s survey of more than 9,000 global consumers exposes key shifts in consumer behaviour with regional and generational differences indicating retail’s future.
Of all consumers globally, Brits are the most likely to do the entirety of their Christmas shopping online (20% of respondents), followed by India (18%) and the U.S. (16%). Only 9% of U.K. shoppers are planning to do all their Christmas shopping in physical stores.
When shopping in-store, 69% of Brits are likely to visit the retailer’s website and 65% will use the retailer’s app.
Ahead of Christmas shopping season, Airship, the leading mobile app experience company, has released findings from a global survey that provide insights into changing shopping behaviours and preferences of consumers in the U.K., U.S., France, Germany, Australia, Singapore and India.
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“For retailers, apps offer better opportunities to truly understand their customers and form stronger direct relationships, as it’s much easier to tie together their digital and physical activities and engage them throughout their journey with the brand.”
The survey, commissioned by Airship and conducted in partnership with Sapio Research, polled more than 9,000 consumers across major markets in Europe, America and Asia, found U.K. consumers to be the most likely to do all of their shopping online this holiday season. Compared with all other countries, the U.K. comes in on top at 20%, followed by India (18%) and the U.S. (16%). Only 9% of Brits stated that they will do all their Christmas shopping in physical stores.
Globally, 48% of respondents expect to do three-quarters or more of their holiday shopping online, and 47% say that three-quarters or more of their online shopping will be done on their smartphones rather than on their desktops. In comparison, 51% of U.K. respondents expect online shopping to account for three-quarters or more of their holiday shopping, and nearly half (49%) three-quarters or more of their online shopping will be done on smartphones rather than desktops.
The survey also highlights the rising usage of smartphones while shopping in-store. When visiting a shop, 72% of UK consumers are likely to use loyalty cards or coupons stored on their smartphones, while 69% said they would compare prices (i.e via Google or Amazon), visit the retailers’ website (69%), use the retailer’s app (65%), and check online reviews (63%).
Brett Caine, CEO and president at Airship, said: “Consumers are clearly developing a preference for mobile apps as the primary destination to save them time and streamline their shopping experiences from in-store wayfinding to click-and-collect and curbside pickup.”
“For retailers, apps offer better opportunities to truly understand their customers and form stronger direct relationships, as it’s much easier to tie together their digital and physical activities and engage them throughout their journey with the brand.”
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For most countries and generations, the likelihood of using a retailer’s app while shopping in-store, is only a few percentage points behind visiting the retailer’s website, despite people having to first download them from the App Store or Google Play. Among UK consumers, 77% are using retail apps more or about the same since the pandemic began, which, among countries included, is only surpassed by Singapore and India at 79% each.
Overall, 81% of millennials have used retail apps more or about the same since the pandemic began, followed by 77% of Gen X, 74% of Gen Z and 66% of baby boomers. Generationally, millennials lead in likelihood to perform all of these in-store digital activities.
