by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, August 10, 2017

According to 1,000 men and women, in a study by Corra analyzing their spending habits, most people shopped as much online as they did in a physical store location. While some people only shopped online or in-store once every couple of months, women who shopped multiple times a week were more likely to do so online versus visiting a brick-and-mortar store.

Women who made purchases at least three times a week were slightly more likely to shop online, says the report, while men shopping at this volume didn’t appear to have a preference when it came to in-store and online shopping. Similarly, women who shopped once or twice a week were nearly twice as likely to shop online, and men were more than twice as likely to shop at this frequency via the web rather than in-store.

In 2014, shoppers in the U.S. spent over $320 billion on clothing, shoes, and accessories. By 2021, it’s estimated more than $96 billion of the total retail industry will be spent online, according to the report.

More than a third of women listed a better selection as their No. 2 reason for shopping online. From finding a basic item that may not be readily available in a local shop to niche items that are sometimes impossible to find in brick-and-mortar locations, the vast selection of shopping online is an advantage for women.

The No. 1 reason for women and men to shop at a physical location was to feel and try clothes on before purchasing, says the report. This preference has inspired new online clothing retailers to experiment with helping customers try on clothes without ever leaving their home, says the report. Some companies have gone so far as to create lifelike 3-D models that use customers’ measurements to visualize how clothes might look.

Thirteen percent of baby boomers wanted to see items in person before purchasing. Very few would-be customers said the social aspect of shopping or customer service swayed their decision to shop in-store rather than online. Thirty-nine percent of women would rather buy their undergarments online – the highest percentage of women in any online shopping category.

More people today are shopping online rather than in-store, and people who shop online are more likely to return their purchases, says the report. Millennials were the most likely to always or often return their online purchases. Millennials have been found to be both frugal spenders and less likely to take big risks in life, which may contribute to their lack of decisiveness when shopping for new apparel. The survey also found baby boomers were the most likely of any demographic to rarely return their online purchases.

Concluding, the report says the research can help understand the buying patterns of men and women of every age, and what’s influencing their decisions.

For additional information about the study, from Corra, please visit here.

MediaPost.com: Search Marketing Daily

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