Consumers Do This 69% of the Time
Do what? A new study by Salsify revealed that 69% of consumers now make purchases while doing other things — scrolling through social media, browsing YouTube, or even watching shows on Netflix.
The days of someone saying, “Let’s go shopping” still exist, but multitasking is now the norm for close to 70% of the population, which means that retailers and other businesses need to adjust their marketing techniques.
These brands must also work extra hard to give people compelling reasons to visit their brick-and-mortar stores.
“Ambient shopping” is the term used in Salsify’s Consumer Shopping Report to describe the multitasking behavior. It’s most common among Millennials (76%) and men (75%).
But that doesn’t mean just impulse shipping. Once they are considering a purchase, 41% of shoppers will dig down to page three of search and 26% will travel all the way to page five. A mere 18% grab and go on the item they saw on the first page. Brands should continuously be refining their search strategies.
The study also revealed that influencers continue to influence the shopping journey. The number of shoppers who made purchases based on these recommendations jumped 18% from the prior year.
According to the study, AI also influences purchase decisions, and 28% of buyers trust AI assistants to help them shop.
No matter how and when consumers are influenced and ultimately buy a product, they still care about quality. During and after the buying process, shoppers are unforgiving when product content (or the product itself) falls short. Checkout ease and details are critically important. Especially if someone is taking time from watching their favorite series or scrolling random dancers and comedians online, they want to buy precisely what they want, when they want it, and get back to other activities. Conflicting information, inaccurate descriptions, or poor reviews can easily drive potential buyers away. In fact, Amazon now shows viewers what percent to people have returned a particular item.
Brands also have a significant opportunity to use online marketing to drive people into physical locations (where they can potentially up-sell them on other products or provide gifts with purchases). We live in a phygital world, and MULO (multi-location) retailers must be creative in getting their customers off the couch, into their parking lots, and through their doors.
The Salsify study confirms that for consumers, attention is becoming scarcer and having a seamless end-to-end shopping experience — both in-store and online — is critically important.
Browsing time is filled with various other visual stimuli and compelling options. How will YOU compete with the latest true crime drama or TikTok entertainer?
