How Consumers Shop: Five Insights From This Year’s PYMNTS Intelligence Reports

So far this year, PYMNTS Intelligence data has illuminated a wide range of shopper behaviors, highlighting how omnichannel engagement is changing over time and how economic pressures are impacting spending habits.

Here are five key takeaways about shopper behavior from 2024 so far.

The Rise of the Click-and-Mortar Shopper

“The 2024 Global Digital Shopping Index” gleaned insights from a survey of nearly 14,000 consumers across seven countries about their omnichannel buying behaviors and preferences. The results revealed that roughly 4 in 10 consumers are now Click-and-Mortar shoppers, favoring purchasing journeys that combine the digital and the physical over pure-play brick-and-mortar or eCommerce.

Specifically, 25% are now digitally assisted in-store shoppers, opting to use connected technologies to improve their brick-and-mortar journeys. Another 14% are pickup shoppers, preferring to make their purchases digitally and collect them on-site.

Omnichannel Boosts Shopper Satisfaction

Data from the “U.S. Edition” of the same Index, for which PYMNTS Intelligence surveyed more than 2,400 United States consumers, revealed that these digitally assisted shoppers are more satisfied with their retail experiences than those who do not use such tools.

The study found that customer satisfaction for those shopping in-store with digital assistance is 65% higher than that of those shopping in-store without digital assistance.

High-Income and Gen Z Shoppers Lead eCommerce Adoption

The 2024 edition of PYMNTS Intelligence’s “How the World Does Digital” report drew from a survey of 67,000 consumers across 11 countries that make up approximately half of the world’s gross domestic product to understand how they engage with various digital activities throughout their daily lives.

The results revealed that when it comes to online shopping, young and wealthy consumers lead the way. Twenty-one percent of consumers engage in online shopping each week, and that share rises to 27% for high-income shoppers and 35% for Generation Z. Plus, 1 in 4 consumers shops from a digital marketplace each week, and that increases to 33% for wealthy consumers and 37% for Gen Z.

Peer Recommendations Guide Young Consumers’ Shopping Choices

The PYMNTS Intelligence study “Generation Zillennial: How They Shop” was based on a survey of more than 3,600 U.S. consumers to understand shoppers in different generations’ preferences and behaviors around shopping. It focused especially on zillennials, the micro-generation of younger millennial and older Gen Z consumers born between 1991 and 1999.

The results revealed that the factor that most often affects younger consumers’ decisions about where to shop is recommendations from their friends or family. Forty-two percent of Gen Z consumers, 39% of zillennials and 37% of millennials said they had made purchases in the previous 30 days at least partially due to the influence of these, compared to just 30% of the population overall.

Inflation Prompts Spending Cutbacks

For the February/March installment of the “New Reality Check: The Paycheck-to-Paycheck Report” series, PYMNTS Intelligence surveyed more than 4,200 U.S. consumers to understand their saving and spending habits.

The study revealed that amid rising retail prices, 60% of shoppers reduced their purchasing of nonessential products, and half switched to cheaper merchants. Plus, a smaller but still significant share of shoppers switched to buying less expensive versions of the same products. Forty-five percent of low-income shoppers, 41% of middle-income and 28% of high-income shoppers said they had traded down on quality in the previous year.

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