Understanding the Shopping Journey of the Connected Consumer
Explore how mobile and other digital resources are redefining how people around the world discover, evaluate and purchase products across retail.
Today, shoppers have an ever-evolving world of resources at their fingertips to help them choose and buy products. To help retail marketers better understand the mindset of omnichannel consumers, we set out to uncover how retail shoppers navigate the path to purchase.
With a focus on how online channels support retail consumers’ buying journey, Facebook IQ commissioned Accenture to examine the buying habits and behaviors of shoppers. The study surveyed 1,598 US shoppers—ages 18 and older—who had made a purchase in the previous three months. The categories we will explore in this article are Media & Entertainment,1 Apparel & Accessories,2 Household Staples3 and Health, Household & Personal Care.4 All data included in this article is from the commissioned Accenture research.
How do retail shoppers discover new brands and products?
When it comes to discovering new brands and products, both online and in-store channels play key roles for shoppers. Our research shows that online discovery is particularly important for shoppers in Media & Entertainment, Apparel & Accessories and Household Staples, with 60% of them discovering new products online. For Health, Household & Personal Care, although shoppers hear about new brands and products offline 59% of the time, online discovery is becoming more common. We found that 28% of Health, Household & Personal Care shoppers have discovered more products online over the previous year.
The Facebook family of apps5 is the top source of online discovery for shoppers in all the categories surveyed. Our research shows that 38% of Household Staples shoppers and 37% of Media & Entertainment shoppers find new products on the Facebook family of apps. This makes Media & Entertainment shoppers 2.4x more likely to discover a product on a Facebook app than on a retailer website (37% vs 15%).
Mobile devices are also proving to be an important discovery channel, particularly in Household Staples, Media & Entertainment and Apparel & Accessories.
How many shoppers discover new products on their smartphone or tablet?
of Household Staples shoppers
of Media & Entertainment shoppers
of Apparel & Accessories shoppers
How do retail shoppers evaluate new brands and products?
During the evaluation phase of the path to purchase, we found that shoppers are turning to recommendations to research new-found brands and products.
Our research shows that 56% of Media & Entertainment shoppers, 50% of Household Staples and 47% of Health, Household & Personal Care shoppers consider recommendations from family and friends influential. And we found that shoppers are turning to Facebook, Instagram and Messenger to discuss past purchases, ask for and give product recommendations (along with various other shopping-related activities).
The majority of Household Staples shoppers (59%) and Media & Entertainment shoppers (63%) turn to Facebook for shopping activities. Messenger is also an important resource, with 41% of Apparel & Accessories shoppers and 60% of Household Staples shoppers using the platform to chat with friends about products, message businesses and engage in other shopping-related activities.6
During the evaluation phase, in-store becomes a less important channel for Media & Entertainment. We found that 33% of Media & Entertainment shoppers consider in-store to play a role in their decision to buy (versus 42% of them discovering in-store). For Apparel & Accessories, however, in-store becomes more influential in the evaluation stage, with 56% of shoppers considering it to play a role in their research (versus 47% discovering in-store).
60%
of shoppers discover products online
60%
63% of shoppers who use Facebook use it for shopping activities
54% of shoppers who use Messenger use it for shopping activities
55% buy products online most commonly
38% buy products in-store most commonly
60%
of shoppers discover products online
60%
45% of shoppers who use Facebook use it for shopping activities
41% of shoppers who use Messenger use it for shopping activities
40% buy products online most commonly
54% buy products in-store most commonly
60%
of shoppers discover products online
60%
59% of shoppers who use Facebook use it for shopping activities
60% of shoppers who use Messenger use it for shopping activities
46% buy products online most commonly
49% buy products in-store most commonly
40%
of shoppers discover products online
40%
41% of shoppers who use Facebook use it for shopping activities
35% of shoppers who use Messenger use it for shopping activities
31% buy products online most commonly
63% buy products in-store most commonly
Where do retail shoppers purchase products?
With the exception of Media & Entertainment shoppers, in-store is still the most common way consumers are purchasing products across the categories surveyed. That said, 46% of Household Staples shoppers say that online is the most common way they buy new products. And 26% of Media & Entertainment shoppers, 19% of Household Staples and 18% of Apparel & Accessories shoppers say on mobile is the most common way they buy.
We found that digital products that live online—such as video games and ebooks—are more likely to be purchased online. For example, 55% of Media & Entertainment consumers most commonly make their purchases online. Yet only 31% of people buying Health, Household & Personal Care products, products like shampoo and diapers, say that online is their most common way to buy. Interestingly, however, 23% of Health, Household & Personal Care customers have reported purchasing more products online over the previous year.
Even within categories where most purchases happen in-store, online plays a key role in the lead up to the register: 42% of Health, Household & Personal Care customers and 43% of Apparel & Accessories consumers like to look at products online before they buy in-store.
There is an appetite for more and better mobile shopping opportunities: 26% of Household Staples shoppers say that they’d do all of their shopping on mobile if they could. And 33% of Health, Household & Personal Care shoppers expect brands to offer one-click buying in the future.
Download our infographic to see how the path to purchase comes to life for Household Staples shoppers in the United States.
What it means for marketers
Create in-store shopping experiences online.
Allow shoppers to research and evaluate products as seamlessly as they do in-store. Consider offering speedy messaging responses, videos of products and 360-degree images.
Make online purchasing easy.
Create a seamless shopping experience for shoppers. Reduce friction points by offering direct and one-click purchasing options through your website or your business pages in the Facebook family of apps.
Source unless otherwise specified: “Global Retail/eCommerce Consumer Journey Study” by Accenture (Facebook-commissioned online study of 9,783 people ages 18+ in the US, CA, UK, FR, DE, BR, IN, ID, AU), Jun–Jul 2018.
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