A Deep Dive into Online Shopping

June 18, 2018

About 8 in 10 consumers shop online more than once a month. It’s becoming an integral part of the way modern shoppers acquire goods and services.

Online shopping is occupying a larger share of both consumers’ wallets and ecommerce sales—there was a 14% year-over-year growth in ecommerce sales from 2016 to 2017.

We will dive into how often consumers shop online, which devices they use, how much they spend, what shoppers like and dislike about their online shopping experiences and examine how social media is influencing purchases.

Usage and Devices

An increasing number of American consumers are going online. 26% of adult Americans report going online “almost constantly,” which is 5% higher than 2015. A total of 77% of Americans go online daily.

The average adult spends 5.9 hours per day engaging with digital media, 3.3 hours of which are done on a mobile device and 2.1 hours of which are done on a desktop or laptop. These numbers are up from 2012, where the average adult spent 4.3 hours total daily engaging with digital media, 1.6 hours of which were done from a mobile device and 2.5 hours of which were done on a laptop or desktop computer.

So the average American adult is going online more often and spending more time online using a mix of devices to access the Internet. 96% of all Americans shop online, which is up from the 79% who shopped online in 2016.

So which device do consumers prefer to use for online shopping? Although mobile shopping accounts for 54% of all app sessions (the highest amount of all app activity), desktop is the most preferred device to shop online. Here’s a breakdown of how many online shoppers use which device:

• 48% use desktop or laptop

• 44% use smartphone

• 8% use a tablet

Spending Habits

Overall, ecommerce is taking a growing share of total retail sales. Ecommerce comprised 13% of all retail sales in 2017 but accounted for about 5% in 2007.

The average shopper allocates 36% of his or her total retail budget to online purchases. How often does the typical online consumer shop online and how much are they spending?

Most online shoppers don’t spend a lot in a month. Here’s a look at how many customers spend different dollar amounts per monthly online shopping spree (or sprees):

• 50% spend less than $100

• 33% spend $101 - $250

• 12% spend $251-$500

• 3% spend $501-$750

• 2% spend $751-$1,000

• 1% spend over $1,000

Online shopping is a “regular part of consumers’ routines and … a significant portion of online consumers are active shoppers,” the Online Consumer Behavior 2018 study from Namogoo said.

How frequently consumers work online shopping into their routines varies.

• 23% shop online monthly

• 19% shop online two/more times per week

• 18% shop online less than once per month

• 16% shop online once a week

• 16% shop online once every two weeks

• 7% shop online daily

Shopping Preferences

Odds are that you won’t have an online shopper’s complete attention. Over 50% of online shoppers are multitasking while shopping. That’s why it’s important to understand what draws consumers to a specific online retailer.

The top reasons that prompted a shopper to select an online retailer:

• 94% prices

• 90% low cost/free shipping

• 78% selection

• 76% delivery speed

• 42% free returns

• 39% reliable customer service

• 25% membership rewards program

• 21% clearly stated returns policy

• 21% multiple payment options

• 13% ethical/social responsibility

Elements of a great online shopping experience:

• 88% clear product images

• 78% product reviews

• 77% product reviews

• 76% easy checkout process

• 69% easy search

• 56% simple navigation

• 48% easy to use on my mobile device

• 39% payment options

• 31% remembers my preferences, info & history

• 21% product videos

Elements of a frustrating online shopping experience:

• 60% having to fill out the same info twice

• 43% complicated website navigation

• 40% too many form fields

• 35% back button doesn’t go back to the previous page

• 38% unable to change the order

• 19% unable to find relevant filters

The top 5 reasons customers abandon an online shopping cart:

• 77% shipping/other fees are too high

• 61% website has errors/crashes

• 60% have to create an account

• 53% payment security concerns

• 47% broken promotional code

84% of customers have abandoned an online shopping cart but returned later to complete the transaction. Here’s what brought them back to finish their purchases:

• 81% still wanted items in the cart

• 45% prices were cheapest after comparing prices

• 38% were emailed a promotion for the product in cart

• 25% got an email reminder from the website

• 5% saw an ad for the retailer online

Social Media’ Influence

50% of all US retail sales are digitally influenced. Social media platforms play a large role in influencing both product discovery and ecommerce.

55% of consumers bought a product online after learning about it on a social media site. In Q1 of 2018, social media accounted for 6% of referrals to ecommerce sites (compared to Q1 2015, social media accounted for 2% of referrals to ecommerce sites).

The top social media sites driving product discovery are:

• 78% Facebook

• 59% Instagram

• 59% Pinterest

• 34% Twitter

• 22% Snap

The most-used social media sites in the U.S. are:

• 73% use YouTube

45% visit YouTube daily

• 68% use Facebook

74% visit Facebook daily

• 35% use Instagram