NEW DATA: What’s Driving $230B In Commuter Commerce?

What makes the daily drive miserable for millions of commuters? Yes, there’s the traffic snarls, obnoxious motorists and boredom. However, for a significant share of commuters who drive their own vehicles to and from work, their greatest frustration lies in the inability to connect to the internet while they focus on driving.

A large portion of commuters, though (some 99 million), are finding ways to connect, either by using their smartphones or technology already built into their vehicles’ dashboards. From behind the wheel, these commuters are driving roughly $230 billion in commerce on items such as coffee, food, gas and groceries.

About half of the 99 million commuters who connect while driving use their devices to find a gas station. Meanwhile, roughly one-third buy coffee or food for pickup at a drive-through window, occurring an average of 65 times and 41 times a year, respectively.

Voice assistant technology, for one, has the potential to significantly boost in-vehicle commerce— for obvious reasons. The technology offers a natural interface for drivers to connect, allowing them to speak their purchases aloud while staying focused on the road. Additionally, certain voice assistants — Siri, Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa — have demonstrated that they could influence future purchasing activities to different degrees.

In essence, commuters appear to be driven to make purchases that help them with their drive.

Notable data points included in the Digital Drive Report:

Most commuters (53.3 percent) are turning to voice assistants to connect while driving.

Two percent of commuters who use connected devices are most interested in finding a gas station.

On average, commuters ordered coffee for pickup at a drive-through window 65 times per year.

Six percent of commuters who use voice assistants connect to the internet using their mobile devices.

The 2018 Digital Drive Report also looked at the in-vehicle purchasing habits of Bridge Millennials, a highly influential consumer bellwether. About 62 percent of Bridge Millennial commuters use voice assistants while they drive, connecting either through mobile devices, in-vehicle technology or a combination of both. Find that, a Deep Dive on the connected commerce experience these commuters value most and how Bridge Millennials’ preferences could shape future connected commuters’ shopping experiences in the Report.

Download the Report to read the Deep Dive and 260 data points on what drives commuter commerce.

About The Digital Drive Report

The new Digital Drive Report, a PYMNTS collaboration with P97 Networks, is based on insights from over 5,000 commuters. The Report includes over 260 data points outlining how commuters are using connected technology behind the wheel, how they prefer to connect, the types of purchases they are making and the factors that could alter their future behavior.