Last week, we told you about the state of retail, which wasn’t good, with the exception of online retailers which, according to the NRF which reported a 21.2% increase in online sales from April 2019 to April 2020. That online shopping surge has been fueled, in part, by consumers who’ve been a little more adventurous when it comes to finding online retailers.
Chain Store Age reports on a new survey from CouponFollow which shows 73% of respondents shopped at least one new online retailer since the pandemic started. And it doesn’t stop there—43% have shopped one to two new online stores, 24% bought from three to four and 5% tried five or more new online merchants.
This shopping cuts across all generations as 89% of millennials, 86% of Gen X, 78% of Gen Z and 76% of baby boomers were all willing to try a new company. Overall, 60% are shopping more online than in-store vs. 44% before the onset of the coronavirus and 59% have increased their online shopping in general. Again all generations are buying from online retailers, ranging from 65% of Gen Z to 47% of boomers.
Not surprisingly younger consumers are shopping the most online, with 55% of Gen Zers and 51% of millennials leading the way. And 66% of survey respondents say they’ll keep buying online, even as stores reopen.
Most respondents have opted for delivery of their items (74%), while 55% chose curbside pickup and 48% bought online and picked up their merchandise in-store (BOPIS).
All this is very good news for small online retailers. Consumers are actively looking for—and finding—new online stores to shop at—the key is to offer unique products and market your business.
Online shopping stock photo by Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock
