Very few Americans limit their shopping to exclusively online (5%) or offline (10%) channels, according to a report [download page] from Periscope By McKinsey. The survey – which included more than 1,000 US respondents ages 18-70 – found that more than half (56%) shop equally online and offline.
It’s still more common for consumers in the US to shop mostly offline (17%) than to shop mostly online (11%), per the results, but it’s clear that “multichannel shopping behaviors predominate,” as the analysts note.
Interestingly, of 5 countries tracked for the report, the US was one of only 2 – the other being France – where respondents were more likely to shop mostly or only offline as opposed to mostly or only online.
The prevalence of multichannel behavior should be good news to retailers, given recent findings from Criteo. People who shop both online and offline are far more valuable customers than those who limit their shopping methods to e-commerce only, according to its report. The study examined global data from retailers combining online and offline sales data, finding that omnichannel shoppers accounted for 7% of all customers but a 4 times larger (27%) share of sales.
(It’s worth pointing out that Criteo’s data found omnichannel shopping to be less common than the Periscope By McKinsey survey. Aside from the comparison being between survey data and empirical data, some of the difference could be due to the survey being fielded online, therefore excluding the 11% of US adults who don’t go online.)
1 in 4 in the US Say They’re Loyal Amazon Shoppers
No discussion of retail is complete without mentioning Amazon, of course… And here’s why: fully 61% of US respondents describe themselves as either frequently shopping at the site (37%) or being loyal Amazon shoppers (24%). Fewer than 1 in 5 say they rarely or never shop at Amazon.
Meanwhile, 61% of US shoppers reported having Amazon Prime. It’s worth considering that figure in the context of other research:
- Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) recently estimated that 59% of Amazon shoppers were Prime members [pdf] as of June 30, 2018; while
- A survey from Walker Sands released in July 2017 found 55% of respondents saying they were Amazon Prime members.
While the exact figures are debatable, they nonetheless reflect the enormous power and penetration of the e-commerce behemoth.
Prime Day certainly didn’t hurt. Eight in 10 respondents reported being aware of Prime Day, and 41% said they had participated this year, up from 13% estimating they’d participated in 2015.
Not only are many participating in Prime Day, but they also feel that they’re spending more: almost two-thirds in the US said they spent more this year, and close to half said they purchased more items.
In other Prime Day-related research:
- In analyzing last year’s Prime Day data, Bazaarvoice reveals that some of the electronics with the biggest pageview increases on Prime Day included TVs, printers and computers;
- 7 of the top 10 mentioned products online on Day 1 of Prime Day were Amazon products, but Nintendo Switch was the most popular, per Crimson Hexagon;
- Electronics represented a growing share of Prime Day purchases, according to an InfoScout survey; and
- Despite the technical glitch, Prime Day still generated an estimated $4.2 billion sales, according to analyst estimates reported by Bloomberg.
