Technology takes things slowly in the era of the Considered Consumer

14.07.2014

Leading retail property specialist Hammerson and retail consultant, Conlumino, have today launched their 2014 Retail Report* which reveals the evolving shopping habits of the UK's Considered Consumer.

Technology is slowing the purchasing process

Technology appears to have slowed down the purchasing process, rather than making it quicker. Compared to 10 years ago, consumers spend almost twice as long browsing for products (circa 90 minutes today, compared to 50 minutes in 2003). Ten years ago, the full period of time from initial consideration to purchase took half a day, nowadays, this deliberation takes three and a half days. Despite this, the time spent specifically on the transaction and collection has reduced over the past decade from eight minutes to six minutes today.

Shoppers prepared to wait for offers

The mindset of the considered consumer is about the perception of value rather than pure price, and retailers are experiencing a dramatic shift in purchasing trends. Nearly three quarters (70%) of people say they rarely purchase anything at full price and 60% now claim they will always wait until a product is on offer. However consumers are prepared to pay more for better quality and trade up for items that they really want.

Planned purchasing has increased at the expense of the impulse buy

Impulse shopping has dwindled as planned purchases have increased at the expense of shopping on a whim with half (49%) of non-food expenditure being now planned. Not only are consumers being more considered with their expenditure, but the rise of online has made it much easier to compare ranges and prices.

Overwhelmed by channels and choice

Overwhelmed with variety, the average shopper has nearly doubled the number of stores they use on a regular basis. A decade ago, consumers stuck to an average of around seven stores for their purchases. Today, they tend to use around 13 on a regular basis, enjoying the wider breadth of international brands that have entered the UK.

The variety of channels - stores, online, mobile, catalogue, etc, available to consumers has risen significantly over the past decade and nearly 1 in 2 (45%) of shoppers say they now use three or four channels to shop (compared to 1 or 2 channels in 2002)….

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