If you are an online merchant, it’s important to do your research to get a good understanding of the latest eCommerce trends and patterns. There are many excellent studies available with the most current information on user behavior, device usage, and demographics. We’re constantly looking for the best information to help us build for you the most user friendly and effective eCommerce stores. Below are the best studies we’ve found recently. Please leave a comment if you’ve found any other studies that would be helpful for improving a Magento store.
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E-Commerce: Evolution or Revolution in the fast-moving consumer goods world? |
Summary: The Nielsen study is based on a survey of participants located in 60 countries. The study analyzes how shoppers use the internet to research products, and whether they continue to buy products online, or in store.
Key Takeaways: Consistent browse/buy rates, where shoppers browse for and purchase an item online, are seen for products like clothing, event tickets, books, toys& dolls, cosmetics, personal care, groceries, pets, and flowers. More expensive items like electronics, mobile phones, and cars are often browsed online, but are more likely purchased in-store after online research.
Millenials (21-34 year olds) lead the way in online shopping. Generation X (35-49 year olds) also have a strong presence.
Conclusion: The study concludes that Latin America has the highest online browse rates, while Asia-Pacific has the highest online buy rates. The areas where online purchase intention has grown the most 2011 – 2014 are event tickets, e-books, and computer software. In this study, millennials made up more than half of participants who planned to make online purchase across every product category tested.
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2014 Pulse of the Online Shopper |
Summary: UPS’s informative study analyzes the aspects of purchase experience that affect customer satisfaction. The 2014 study conducted by comStore analyzed data from 5,800 US online shoppers, and focuses on omnichannel shopping
Key Takeaways: 60% of studied shoppers used a single channel to shop (39% search online / buy online and 21% search in store / buy in store), while 40% were omnichannel shoppers, the most popular method (13%) being search online / buy in store.
The study also found that Privacy Protection is the most important non-product related reason why shoppers choose an online retailer.
Conclusion: Offering fast shipping and convenient returns is important for customer satisfaction, and unexpected shipping costs are a leading cause of shopping cart abandonment. Not only are shoppers using multiple devices to shop online, but they are also using in-store shopping experience to complete purchases online, and vice-versa.
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Multi-Device Ownership: Implications for Retailers and Consumers |
Summary: eBay’s Usability team, along with their Marketing Solutions Group, has conducted a six-week study during the 2012 holiday season. The goal of the study is to understand how users use multiple devices to shop. Despite being conducted a few years ago, this study offers important insight into the reason a shopper will choose a particular device to shop with, and which devices are used to browse vs. buy.
Key Takeaways: During the study, 78% of participants used their smartphones and 68% used their tablets to browse products. 40% of participants used more than one device to browse the same product.
Despite this, 78% of purchases were placed using a traditional device.
Conclusion: It’s important to offer a seamless shopping experience for users who are shopping with multiple devices. One way to achieve this is to encourage quick and easy account creation and login.
In Conclusion
Data and information found in eCommerce studies can help you plan a successful online strategy for your store. Your website should be optimized in consideration of the way users are finding and shopping at your store. The best way to know this information is to read current and helpful eCommerce studies like the ones listed here. Please comment with any other resources that you have found helpful!
Customer Success Manager
