Online shopping continues to accelerate, with two-thirds (66%) of shoppers purchasing an item online in the last 12 months that they previously only ever bought in-store, according to research from 1WorldSync.
"In today's retail landscape, online and in-store shopping experiences are intrinsically intertwined, each bolstering the other to meet the evolving demands of modern consumers," says Steve Sivitter, CEO of 1WorldSync. "The boundaries between digital and physical retail channels are dissolving, giving rise to a 'phygital' shopping era where consumers seamlessly merge online and in-store shopping to make informed in-store purchases and vice versa. This interconnected ecosystem reflects the future of retail, demonstrating the complementary and indispensable relationship between online and brick-and-mortar platforms in enhancing customer experience and choice."
Key takeaways:
- According to the survey, clothing and accessories (50%), health and personal care (42%) and beauty and cosmetics (35%) lead the migration of in-store to online purchases.
- The percentage of online shoppers in new categories is down from the height of the pandemic (82% in 2021) and only slightly from last year's survey (68%), indicating sustained consumer comfort with online shopping in traditional brick-and-mortar retail categories.
- Augmented reality (AR) tools are finding their niche, with 35% of consumers deploying them during mobile shopping and 57% relying on these tools to help visualize product dimensions. In contrast, 78% of consumers remain unaware of/have yet to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) tools for product searches.
- 23% of consumers are shopping less with delivery services/courier apps this year compared to 2022.
