While Australian’s spent big online during the pandemic, it was theretailers with a physical presence that performed the strongest.
Research by Monash Business School’s Australian Consumer and Retail Studies(ACRS) showed that 84 per cent of Australians had purchased non-grocery retailonline over the past three months and a third of those shoppers make weeklyonline purchases.
However, 64 per cent of these purchases were through websites of physicalretailers and Stephanie Atto, Principal Research Consultant at ACRS, said ithighlights the importance of retailers creating an online presence.
“With consumers using online channels more than ever before, it is nowincreasingly important that retailers provide shoppers with seamlessomnichannel experiences to meet their increasing online expectations.
“As retailers focus on improving their digital integration in the retailexperience, adding personalised touches will help retailers continue toconnect with their customers in a deeper way.”
Atto said prior to the pandemic 68 per cent of shoppers preferred to usephysical stores as their main channel for non-grocery retail purchases, butsince being forced into using online a number of shoppers have decided tocontinue using that method.
“As a result of COVID-19 lockdowns and pandemic-related restrictions, onlinebecame the main non-grocery retail channel, with almost two-thirds (64 percent) of Australian shoppers using online methods as their main channel fornon-grocery retail purchases.
“But what is most interesting is that Australians are now equally divided ontheir preference for bricks-and-mortar versus online as their preferred mainchannel – 50 per cent prefer physical stores as their preferred main channel,while the other 50 per cent now prefer online channels.”
The research also revealed that Australian consumers were more likely to beenticed by free shipping as opposed to fast shipping, despite the delays thathave been occurring across the country.
Tagged: online shopping, Retail
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