Business strategies have changed quite a lot after the pandemic. From marketing to production all the working strategies have moved towards the online world. E-commerce has brought a great boom to the retail industry through high rates of online shopping. How many sales can an online store of yours bring in for you despite having a physical store? Or why should you be working to groom your online store?
All the following statistics would make a clear idea for your business that what and when online shopping vs store shopping can matter to your sales.
Editor Choice: Online Shopping VS Store Shopping Statistics
- US retail e-commerce sales will increase 13.7% in 2021 to reach $908.73 billion.
- Ecommerce retail sales for 2020 was $799.18 billion up 13.2% from 2019.
- 46 percent of US residents shop digitally for TV and video devices.
- Apparel/accessories will grow 18.9% as the subsiding pandemic unleashes pent-up demand for clothing. The adoption of digital grocery will continue to propel growth for food/beverage (18.1%) and health/personal care/beauty (16.1%).
- Online retailers (62%) and mass merchants (50%) are the top holiday destinations for shoppers in 2020.
- 69% Prefer shopping at a store closer to their residence and 65% Prefer shopping online to avoid crowds.
- In 2020 shopping online through desktop, laptop, mobile, tablet, and digital devices, the consumer spent an average of $892 from their holiday budget.
1.32% of the people feel through the BOPIS option they can shop much faster as compared to in-store shopping.
(Deloitte)
In 2019 when Covid-19 hit the world the online shopping had a blooming growth then people were introduced to multiple delivery options such as same-day delivery and BOPIS. BOPIS stands for Buy online Pick in-store, this option became quite popular and people felt much ease by BOPIS because the waiting in long queues gets eliminated through BOPIS. Through multiple delivery options like BOPIS, it enables more flexibility for the consumers.
2. 62% of people preferred shopping for gifs through Internet/online retailers.
(Deloitte)
Selecting a gift for their loved ones could take customers hours and hours if they choose to find it from a store or mall. That is why it is more convenient for the customers to scroll through hundreds of gift items on their mobile phones in just no time. Buying gifts and presents online also lets the customers choose from a whole world of variety of presents and gifts.
3. Over 70% of consumers have no concerns about returning to in-store shopping.
(Power Reviews)
Americans are ready to return to their conventional in-store shopping in 2021. According to the source people are not much concerned about returning to the retailers in stores but 56% of this 70% just need the retailers to make all the safety measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Apart from that, they have no worries to continue once again with in-store shopping.
4. 85% of the people shop in-store for groceries and 66% shop online for books.
(Signs)
Online and In-store shopping majorly depends on the category of the product that a consumer is choosing. If the shopper is shopping for groceries then they would mostly do their food and grocery shopping from stores as they want to carefully analyze and search for their grocery and food items. Another main reason that people go to stores for groceries is that they did not have any prior good experience with online grocery shopping.
5. The percentage of e-commerce sales varies markedly by product segment, from around 2% for grocery to more than 20% for apparel to the overwhelming majority of sales in categories where products can be digitally delivered, like music, books, and games.
(Forbes)
Online shopping no doubt outclass the in-store shopping when the products delivered are digital themselves such as ebooks and movie subscriptions. Well, this seems to be quite obvious but some physical product segments can also work very well in online shopping such as clothing and gifts.
6. Millennials make an average of 5 online orders a month.
(Signs)
The generation that shops more online is no doubt the generation of millennials. According to the source survey, millennials are more tend to do online shopping because they find it convenient for them to shop in lesser time. They find it is easy to compare prices when shopping online. Baby Boomers and Generation X also shop online but not as often as millennials do. Online shopping facility is also available on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram and millennials are more active on social media and are more interactive towards their favorite brands on social media.
7. In the United States, online shopper conversion rates amounted to 2.57 percent.
(Statista)
Conversion rate refers to the rate of website visits or shopping posts that have made the customer purchase an item. Not every item seen online is sold as easily as you can see it. According to Statista, only 2.06 percent of online visits (intended for shopping) ended up on purchases in the third quarter of 2020, this figure was 2.62 percent in the third quarter of the year 2019.
8. Americans who shop online (56%) prefer to shop in a brick and mortar store. 37% of online shoppers are true to the digital experience and prefer to buy online.
(National Public Radio)
For the day-to-day buying of products and groceries, the mass still prefers to shop from physical retail shops near them. With the traditional brick and mortar stores still being the top choice, people are gradually building their preference towards online shopping and from the past two years, online shopping had an excellent growth rate.
9. In the US, the top online shopping categories are fashion ($142.8 billion), electronics and media ($100.1 billion), toys, hobby, and DIY ($93.3 billion), furniture and appliances ($76.6 billion), food and personal care ($56.4 billion).
(Oberlo)
There are few sectors where online shopping has excelled very well and people prefer to shop for clothing and accessories more online. People do not prefer buying anything related to fresh food online as much as they shop for fashion, books, and electronic appliances. If your business is not related to perishable and nonperishable groceries then you can make a good sale by presenting your products in the digital world.
10. 65% of Americans indicate that when they need to make purchases they typically compare the price they can get in stores with the price they can get online.
(Pew Research Center)
Many shoppers visit the websites of stores to avail more deals and discounts. One of the interesting things that US adults do is that they search the same product on different web stores and check if it is being offered at a lower price anywhere on the websites. Online shopping has made it easy for adults to do the budgeting and get products at a lower price point because of being less stressful.
11. In 2016, 209.6 million U.S. people were online shoppers and in 2021 they are predicted to be 230.5 million.
(Statista)
The good news for the ones who are planning to start their business in the e-commerce world is that this sector is growing at a steady phase and predictions are that the number of people who shop online is surely going to increase. So, a large number of target audiences could be brought in if you apply the right online marketing and selling strategy at the right time.
FINAL THOUGHTS
When we talk about online vs in-store shopping then this does not really imply that e-commerce has captured the whole world of physical commerce or vice versa, both the sectors have their importance and it all depends on the type of your business and goods that you sell which determines the more profitable segment for you. If your business attracts more online shoppers then you must be presentable in terms of your website or online store and your business must be active on social media as well. If your end product is bought more through in-store shopping then still you can manage to have an online store as well because that may not perform as well as your physical store but can add to your profits.
