Consumers have several Internet-connected devices within arm’s reach. They don’t shop only online or in-store. They shop in whichever channel is the most convenient. So, retail marketing must change to keep up with this enormous advance.

Read the below brief and get a deep understanding of how Americans shop; broken down into 4 retail types (marketplace, large brand name retailer, webstore & category-specific online stores):

But firstly, what is Omni-Channel Retail? According to BigCommerce, it is stores selling both online and offline – likely also selling through multiple online channels (i.e. on Amazon & eBay).

Who Shops Online in the US?

• Younger generations are more likely to shop online than elder ones – 67% of Millennials & 56% of Gen X vs. 41% of Baby Boomers & 28% of Seniors.
• Non-parents shoppers in the US are more likely to shop online than parents – 47% vs. 41%.
• Women also are more likely to shop online than men – 49% vs. 47%.
• 64% of American shopping budget is spent in-store, compared with only 36% is spent online.

Where & When Americans Spend Online?

• The vast majority of all American shoppers shop from large retailers with a rate of 74% and marketplaces with 54%, followed by 44% do so at webstores and 36% at category-spec.
• 48% use marketplace retailers first to search and shop, followed by large retailers with a rate of 31%.
• Most of the American shoppers shop online on a weekly base.
• 43% shop in bed – most of them are Millennials & parents.
• 25% shop in a retail store and 23% shop in the office – most of them are parents & Gen Xers.

What Influences the American Shopper to Purchase.

• Images of products (78%), product reviews (69%) and side-by-side product comparisons are highly required by American shoppers.
• Reviews are the most influenced factor on all American shoppers.
• Price (87%), shipping cost & speed (80%), discount offers (71%) and the diversity of shopping in stock (71%) are the most influenced factors make American shoppers purchase online.
• Paying for shipping, inability to try out the product first and the difficulty to return items are the most hated factors among American shoppers.

Graph Shows How American Generations Shop In-store vs. Online in 2017

Methodology:

Data were driven from 2,007 Americans ages 18+. 1,002 are national representatives and 1,005 have made an online purchase in the past 6 months.