New Research Reveals Online Shopping Behaviour

Think about the typical online shopping journey, and the steps you take from first realising you need or want to make a purchase through to becoming a loyal (or unhappy) customer. Consumers don’t just buy a product without any thought – there are a number of stages that lead them to make a buying decision, from the initial touchpoints through to brand loyalty.

Feefo, the leading global reviews and customer insights company, wanted to better understand online shopping behavior and how it changes throughout the customer journey. They surveyed 2,000 UK shoppers which resulted in some very interesting statistics. Brands, take note! It’s important to take on board the insights from this survey and interrogate your own customer data if you want to stay one step ahead of your competitors.

Highlights from the survey include the fact that 70% of consumers go online to search as soon as they decide they want to buy something, with 79% of online shoppers heading straight to Google or Amazon.

Feefo Head of Digital, Richard Tank says, ‘While Google’s online monopoly on the web has long been documented, it’s clear that Amazon is now just as prominent as the search engine, even though it’s technically an online retailer. It’s important to recognise that while consumers may start their search on these websites, they often end up buying from somewhere else. Today’s digital landscape is ever-changing and businesses have to meet the needs of their customers across the whole purchase journey in order to maintain sales and brand loyalty. The findings of this survey emphasise that.’

Statistics like these should not be ignored by businesses; they are a call to arms to do better, learn more about your customers and strive to deliver an exceptional experience throughout the customer journey. The results also showed that 79% of online shoppers have abandoned their cart before completing a purchase, and 30% of consumers will switch to a competitor after just one bad experience – highlighting the importance of creating a customer journey that meets and then succeeds expectations.

The research also found that, no matter the channel, 3 in 10 people expect a lightning-fast response of no longer than 10 minutes, and that not being able to find answers to questions when browsing is the most common frustration that online shoppers have experienced in 2021, at 53%.

Businesses should use the insights from Feefo’s survey as a catalyst to interrogate their own market intelligence and customer shopping behaviour. If they don’t, they risk falling behind and losing customers at critical moments which could be prevented.

You can learn more about the research by studying the infographic below: