Europeans have grown more comfortable with online shopping throughout the years as new payment options became available and more retailers join the online community. Ecommerce has been around long enough to become a relatively mainstream industry, but changes have emerged and consumer behavior has naturally shifted as the market has matured.
An infographic created by McKinsey & Company, based on Bloomberg and Datastream reports, highlights five significant digital trends that are reshaping the European eCommerce market.
1. New Categories Emerging In eCommerce
When eCommerce first became mainstream, video games, books and electronics were amongst the most popular items being purchased.
The European market is hitting a new wave in eCommerce, and other product categories have been emerging. The survey indicated that online shoppers in the UK are keen on buying clothing (41 percent), décor (14 percent), office supplies (25 percent), furniture (27 percent), shoes (21 percent) and beauty care products (13 percent). The former products that hit it big the first time around are still well in the lead today, yet consumers are continuing to expand what they shop for on the Internet.
2. Mobile Becomes Mainstream
Surprisingly, smartphones aren’t glued to the hands of consumers, but they might as well be since most people carry the devices with them for a good part of the day. This trend extended to the shopping space, and Europeans said they frequently bring their mobile phones with them to physical retail stores to help with price checking. People are looking to find the best deal and use their phones as a tool to help them make their purchases while shopping. Thirty-four percent of shoppers said they use their phone to compare prices while in the store, and 23 percent said they were looking for applicable coupons while in the store.
Additionally, consumers are doing a little investigating before making the trip to stores. In 2011, 21 percent of participants said they used their phone to search for products before making an offline purchase, compared to 12 percent who said the same in 2010.
3. Online Meets Offline
It turns out there is more to the story of consumers who check product reviews and information before going to a physical store. True, they are looking for deals and reviews, but the online and offline worlds are merging in other ways during the shopping experience. Consumers who make purchases online claimed to go back to the physical store to make returns when needed (21 percent in France, 28 percent in the UK). Most will even go online first to check if a product is available at the nearest store (55 percent in France, 67 percent in UK) because they prefer to buy in-store. Thirty-three percent of respondents in France, and 50 percent in the UK, said they would buy products online and go to physical stores for collection.
When asked what they preferred about buying the product in-store instead of on the website, consumers listed reasons that included wanting to touch the item, asses the quality, and needing the product as soon as possible, among others.
4. Social Stalking
Many people use social media as a platform to express thoughts and experiences, which also applies to product opinions and customer reviews. People are contributing more to social sites, with 27 percent of Europeans stating they had left an opinion about a product or service on a social media site or online.
More people are also “liking” their favorite brands and stores on Facebook to get updates, news and read reviews. Brands are also using Facebook to promote special vouchers and deals. European respondents reported they were using social media sties to watch videos and look at product photos, find more detailed information and other updates. Thirty-five percent of British consumers said they trusted the opinion of other customer recommendations they found online.
5. Behold The Power Of Data
As a final trend in digital consumption, online retailers can also take advantage of the useful data that consumers are submitting online. Merchants gain access to huge data that has been made accessible with the power of the Internet, and this data can be used drive future growth. The data helps merchants to understand who their audience is and how they live, which is significant information for grocers, credit card companies, retailers and more. All the data they need to drive sales is there: retailers need only dig deeper to make good use of it.
To see more about how eCommerce in Europe is changing, view the infographic below.
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