While a vast majority of Americans are now online shoppers, a new survey finds that those same customers also seek out brick-and-mortar stores.
According to the survey from the Pew Research Center, some 8-in-10 Americans shop online, compared to a similar study done in June 2000 when just 22 percent of Americans had made a purchase online.
Still, the study found that despite the inroads e-commerce has made on spending habits, “all things being equal,” 64 percent of Americans preferred buying from physical stores to buying online.
However, the study points out that “all things are often not equal” and that a “substantial share of the public” says that price is the key to where they make their purchase. Fully 65 percent of Americans indicate that when they need to make purchases they compare the price they can get in stores with the price they can get online and choose whichever option is the cheapest.
No matter where they shop, most (82 percent) say they check online reviews (even though half the time they don’t trust them) before buying a product for the first time.
Roughly 1-in-5 (21 percent) say they would buy from stores without checking prices online, while 14 percent would typically buy online without checking prices at physical locations first.
Even though cost is generally the most important factor in a buying decision, other factors that come into play in a purchase are favorable to specialty retailers.
For instance, shoppers like to compare prices with other retailers (86 percent), not just accept the price listed online. They also like to ask questions about the products (84 percent), buy from sellers they know (84 percent) and get advice from people they know (77 percent). Most also want to try the product out in person (78 percent).
It will come as no surprise to any store owner that 45 percent of Americans look-up the online reviews and prices of a product while walking the aisles of a brick-and-mortar store.
And when they have finally decided where and what they are going to buy, they are probably not going to use cash, unless they are over 50. They might use their cell phones: some 12 percent report scanning phones for payment, according the Pew study.
In fact, one-quarter of Americans don’t use any cash for purchases during the week, and 39 percent report they don’t even worry about having cash on hand given the many options for payment at the register.
Finally–and retailers who resisted changing over to the chip credit cards for so long should hold onto their hats—48 percent of Americans are aware of the Bitcoin currency. The good news is only about 1 percent has dabbled in the alternative currency. So far.
Source: Pew Research Center; Online Shopping and E-Commerce
