The nuances of shopper browsing & buying

How do shoppers browse, how do they buy and what motivates them to ultimately click the buy button? HookLogic completed the first annual UK Online Shopper Survey, polling consumers about their online shopping behaviour, and combined the results with data on cross site activity from the HookLogic Exchange.

Together this in-depth data is explored in the new white paper Browsing & Buying by Category: 2016, which will help marketers and retailers understand both the behaviours and attitudes that make up the increasingly complex path to purchase, across different categories.

Among the findings this year:

Browsing:

• 2/3 of online shoppers do so monthly or more

• 16% browse every week

• By category, Electronics, Home and Furniture shoppers are most likely to shop multiple retailers, likely due to higher price points and longer decision cycles

• Apparel & Accessories and Health & Beauty tend to shop fewer sites – buyers in these categories are more brand loyal

• Baby & Toddler shoppers are most likely of any category to browse within sites

• Other than price, multi-site browsing is driven by a variety of factors: Selection; product availability, shipping options and product information all have impact

Buying:

• Nearly 50% buy monthly or more often

• In a category like Electronics, on average 19 products are viewed over a 10 day period until the purchase is made

• For Health & Beauty, 8 products are viewed over a 6.6 day purchase cycle

• Nearly 40% of shoppers are typically adding additional items to their cart beyond what they planned.

• Nearly 30% of all purchases are made on impulse. Baby Toddler is the most impulsive category, Electronics the least.

What’s motivating consumers to go from browse to buy? Ratings and reviews are more important than ever: 49% considered them important to very important.  Product selection is key, especially in categories like Groceries and Home.  

The impact of mobile on online shopping was evident in the survey: 54% of online shoppers report having made a purchase on a device – and 30% of those, while in a physical store. Retailers and brands need to make sure the shopping experience is seamless from desktop to mobile given anticipated growth.