What consumers want in 2015: social shopping
As part three of a three part series DigitasLBi‘s 2015 Connected Commerce study of retail trends reveals a significant rise in the use of connected devices, including wearables, and an increase in social commerce; urges retailers to personalise the shopping experience in order to boost sales.
Shoppers around the world now expect multi-channel, multi-screen experiences from brands and retailers, with the average consumer using a total of five devices when making a purchase – a significant increase from the 2.8 devices reported in 2014. This is according to DigitasLBi’s 2015 Connected Commerce study of the latest retail trends across 17 countries including Australia, China, India, Japan, the UK and the USA.
The continued rise of social
DigitasLBi’s Connected Commerce study shows that social media is influencing an increasing number of purchases both on and off-line. Overall Facebook is leading the way with more than half (52%) of users now admitting that the social network impacts the way they shop, up from 36% in 2014. This compares to 46% for Pinterest, 43% for Instagram and 36% for Twitter.
Social shopping is also rapidly gaining traction, with 28% of social network users around the world claiming to have purchased an item directly via a social media platform. UAE leads the way in terms of social shopping with 56% of respondents now buying through social sites. Other social elements such as online reviews are also gaining importance in the purchasing process: 66% of shoppers read them when buying online and 36% when shopping in-store.
Jim Herbert, managing partner of DigitasLBi Commerce said: “Peer pressure has always been a powerful influencing factor when it comes to making purchases and the Connected Commerce survey shows that social networks aimed at our personal lives rather than our professional lives are translating this online. Retailers need to ensure that social media is integrated throughout the entire customer journey and that they manage their social channels to make a real impact on purchase behaviour.”
Read more:
Part 1: the connected customer
DigitasLBi’s Connected Commerce survey is now in its fourth year. The study covers a total of 17 countries, up from 12 last year. Countries taking part are Australia, Belgium, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, UAE, the UK and the USA. The 2015 survey was conducted online by IFOP from March 5th to March 25th, 2015 with a sample size of 1,000 web users per country aged 18 and over using the quota method (gender, age, income or social profile and region).
