Member Article

North East shoppers shunning ecommerce

More than two thirds of North East shoppers are shunning online shopping and hitting the high street to buy their presents this Christmas.

Recent research by Deloitte has shown than online purchases only account for 30% of the regions’ Christmas sales, lower than any other part of the country.

However, this means that many retailers could be missing out, as the study also showed that online customers spent significantly up to £86 more per transaction.

Interestingly, it was also found that multichannel customers who conducted research online and in-store spent the most, forking out £143 per transaction, in comparison to direct shoppers and store only customers who spend £102 and £57 respectively.

Paul Feechan, Partner for Consumer Business for Deloitte in the North East comments: “Whilst the store remains the biggest single channel by volume and value, it now forms just one part of a shopping experience made of numerous channels.

“The digital revolution has created a new ‘path to purchase’ for consumers, and suppliers and retailers are being increasingly challenged to serve them along a more complex decision-making process.”

Shoppers in the North East were also found to be missing out on voucher codes and price comparison websites, with only 10% and 35% of consumers respectively expected to use the discounts. Nationally, around 19% of individuals use voucher codes, while 44% routinely check price comparison websites.

Mr Feechan now expects to see a period of continued digital disruption to the traditional retail model, as well as changes to the way individuals use multichannel shopping.

He commented: “We expect to see the emergence of a more seamless experience for consumers armed with smart devices and accessing a ‘personal cloud’ that enables organising, synchronising and sharing personal information and media with friends, family and their favourite companies.

“The size of the digital and multichannel opportunity is far greater in non-food where consumers are more likely to make considered purchases, unlike food which are more often impulsive and still predominantly occur in store.

“However, whilst only a small number of food transactions are digitally influenced (4%), their value will be higher, particularly at Christmas, where people take advantage of online discounting and home delivery to purchase bulky items such as wine and beer.”

The statistics indicate that around £9 billion of non-food sales are digitally influenced by factors including stores, online, social media, peer reviews and smartphone apps. Currently only 20% on general merchandise sales this December will be multichannel.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .