Shop Online This Christmas? You Probably Shopped Amazon.
With Christmas now just a weekend away, you’ve likely either got all your presents in hand, or you’re biting your nails wondering about just what to do. Chances are you turned to the internet at some point in your Christmas shopping, and based on a study from CNBC, chances are very good you—like me—did at least some of your shopping on Amazon this year.
The word from the All-America Economic Survey brought confirmation of many likely preconceived notions, including 45 percent of respondents who noted the internet was their main shopping destination. That’s up five percent on just 2016’s figures, and better than twice what it was in 2007.
For those online shoppers, meanwhile, the clearest target was Amazon; 76 percent of online shoppers said they planned to do most of their shopping therein. Coming in second was Walmart, with eight percent—yes, eight—shopping there. Those who even just search Amazon for a purchase end up buying there in 57 percent of cases, which is amazing given that the conversion rate for online shopping period is just about three percent. Amazon shopping appeals to all income levels, as 62 percent take home six figures-plus, while 20 percent pull less than $30,000.
Free shipping proved the biggest draw for 43 percent, while 26 percent called price comparisons the key point. Eighteen percent gave the nod to product information.
Those points right there are some of the things that brick-and-mortar shopping has to overcome in order to stay in the retail game. Thankfully, we’ve already seen some evidence of this, like IKEA and its huge new augmented / virtual reality play. If brick-and-mortar can more readily incorporate AR into its customer experience, it can likely do a fine job of providing price comparisons and product information. That lets it compete on two separate fronts. Plus, brick-and-mortar still has the fastest shipping of all: in your home as fast as you can get it there.
Still, lest anyone get overconfident, it’s clear that businesses still have a way to go to beat Amazon, who is currently the big deal in town. Having a good idea how to fight Amazon, meanwhile, should go a long way.