Since March 2020, over 18 million shoppers of consumer packaged goods have gone online to do their shopping, according to a survey released by Nielsen.
The boom in e-commerce has led to the increase of omnichannel shopping. For many, Nielsen found online channels are a key means to compare prices, research new products and find physical stores, giving way to a full-blown explosion of true omnichannel shopping. In the last year, omnichannel shopping has increased 50%.
When examining consumers’ levels of engagement across channels Nielsen found:
- 56% of online shoppers put careful consideration into each purchase at the point of sale in September 2020, compared with 51% of brick-and-mortar shoppers.
- Online shoppers became more invested than their brick-and-mortar counterparts in searching for the best product to fit new needs and, as a result, increased planning efforts for online grocery purchases into the new normal.
- When examining planning levels for in-store food purchases, rates of purchase planning dipped below pre-COVID levels by September 2020. As brick-and-mortar shoppers eased up on planning efforts, impulse purchasing for food and non-food products increased slightly across offline channels.
- The number of shoppers who consider themselves as exclusive or heavy online shoppers for everyday items increased by 133% from September 2019 to September 2020.
- Shopper preference for instore pickup or delivery grew by 26% during the 52 weeks that ended in September 2020.
- 29% of consumers found the order history tool to be the most helpful website feature when shopping online.
