Study: Consumers connect in many ways

Lewisville, Texas – Connected consumers are increasingly using a wide variety of channels on their path to purchase. According to new research from Blackhawk Engagement Solutions, the smartphone is the most prevalent Internet device, with 71% of shoppers using one daily.



Smartphone use is followed by laptop, 66%; desktop computer, 50%; and tablet, 43%.



Additionally, TV watching and Internet shopping are closely linked. Fifty-eight percent of consumers shop at home while watching TV, and 47% of consumers learn about products, special sales and shopping news on TV. Finally, shopping at work is significant. Thirty-seven percent of consumers admit to shopping while at work. Overall, 4p.m.-9 p.m. is the peak time for online shopping.



Showrooming is now an ingrained behavior, with 19% of shoppers reporting that they purchase competitors’ products on their smartphones while standing in store. The first places shoppers go to compare prices on their phones are Amazon (38%), Google (32%) and retail websites (17%). Forty percent of shoppers use phone cameras to demo, compare and share products they find in store.



Other findings include:



• Sixty-three percent of shoppers would consider allowing retailers to send offers to their smartphones based on where they are in-store; fifty-nine percent would consider allowing retailers to know who they are and where they are in store in exchange for special values and savings.



• Forty-two percent of consumers have used special promotions they found on social media and 89% of shoppers that follow brands want special offers from those brands.



• When it comes to taking advantage of promotional offers, the digital delivery method most used is email (73%), followed by social media (42%), text (37%) and shopping apps (36%). However, connecting seamlessly across in-store and online is still imperfect. Thirty-seven percent of shoppers have experienced in-store redemption problems with text promotions and 35% have experienced problems with email promotions.



• Just $5 in savings on a $50 product can tip the scales in favor of an online competitor. However, the majority of consumers will buy at a physical store that matches online prices with price-match rebates. Also, 86% of shoppers would consider buying online and picking up in store to save $10 on a $50 item.



• Fifty-four percent of all shoppers are likely to use a mobile wallet over a traditional wallet if it is accepted everywhere. Twenty percent would stop carrying a traditional wallet altogether if mobile payments were accepted everywhere and mobile ID was accepted in place of traditional ID.