Five Things We Learned… About The Evolution Of Retail

Shopping is something that everyone does throughout their lifetime. It’s evolving and marketers, for one, are doing everything they can to keep up with global consumers’ habits.

We’re seeing a surge in popularity for the return of in-person shopping, where scrolling on a device is no longer quite cutting it. However, this isn't the death of scrolling online; we also see a boost in online popularity - a sign that technology isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. 

In what is now their eighth edition, creative agency VML released their annual ‘The Future Shopper’ report, delving into the habits of shoppers. Such findings are seminal for marketers to glimpse into the future of what their brand could be doing next; if there’s one thing data doesn’t do, it’s lie. 

The Future Shopper provides an unparalleled look into the habits of shoppers globally, where 31,500 consumers across 20 countries worldwide took part in the research. While shopping is the obvious source of investigation, this covers a wide range of content: physical in-store shopping, online shopping, the devices used to make a purchase, the influence of social media on what to buy, the use of AI in the shopping experience. The list is endless - as, according to the report, could be the avenues the future of shopping explores. 

The stand-out finding from the report was that physical in-store shopping is making a resurgence, yet, more importantly, that doesn’t mean online shopping is dying. Consumers want both physical and online options when shopping, with 64 per cent of individuals preferring a brand that offers both - a number that, for the last two years, was at 60 per cent. 

Talking at a panel event hosted by VML to discuss the report’s findings, Chloe Kerner de Lee, lead product manager at Harrods, explains how Harrods is a brand always trying to match the needs of their consumers. “That’s something we’ve really leaned into… People may have seen the Burberry takeover this year when we had the exterior of the stores blue. We replicated that on the site with a homepage takeover.”

Francesca Iodice, head of retail marketing at Canon Europe, said the benefits of having both online and in-person stores has been particularly beneficial for their brand after Covid. “For a product like cameras this is really important. We’ve definitely seen this trend that people research online and purchase offline… The two channels have to work together which is why we are structured in a way to allow these channels to be planned together.” 

The report supports Iodice’s viewpoint, in which it found that 72 per cent of people admitted to carrying out research on what to buy online before making the purchase in-person. Such findings highlight that physical retail is being revived and that omni-channel is a positive pathway for the future of shopping. 

While the role of online shopping is clearly important, the report further honed into the fact that retail is bouncing-back post-Covid. Unlike years previous, shopping online has seen a decline, with 53 per cent revealing that is where they do the majority of their spending - down from 58 per cent. 

Kerner de Lee said such findings are incredibly important for the maintenance of retail - especially stores thats landscape revolves around physical attendance. “It’s world renowned. When you think of Harrods, you think of the physical store… I think the normalisation of the physical is a wonderful thing to see.” 

She adds that the boost of in-person shopping is beneficial for experiential factors that can’t be replicated online, such as Harrods’ Prada Café.

The popularity of using the internet to shop is reliant on the use of electronic devices, and, according to the report, using a mobile phone to shop is key for online sales. Over half of people said they prefer using the handheld device to shop. 

Naji El-Arifi, head of innovation at VML, said mobile shopping is really starting to dominate. “Getting my phone out - it’s always on, always ready… mobile shopping is really starting to dominate the entire experience… 53 per cent of people prefer to use a mobile device - that is an incredibly high number.”

The report also investigates sustainability in which it was discovered that global consumers are considering the environment when making their shopping habits, with a greater engagement with their carbon output. 

All the while, it revealed that people are showing showed mixed feelings when comes to the future of technology and AI in their shopping experience. Interestingly, views were mixed, where over half of global consumers admitted to using AI such as ChatGPT while nearly ¾ of people admitted they are “fed up” by talking to AI as opposed to a real person. 

Here are five things we learnt from reading the report:

1. A person’s age hasn’t influenced the outcome in a decline in online spending. All age groups (16 - 55+) showed a decline between 4 and 6 per cent when it comes to shopping online - a finding the report suggests that “digitally native does not always mean digitally exclusive”.

2. 35 per cent of people go to their leading marketplace in their region, such as Amazon, for inspiration in what to buy - emphasising the ways in which people research before they buy.

3. 36 per cent of all online spending was carried our via mobile phones - a 4 per cent rise from last year, and including tablet devices makes it 44 per cent. Although the use of mobile devices is increasing in popularity, consumers are still wary of using the handheld devices with 40 per cent finding them “difficult” to shop on. 

4. Consumers are considering the environment more than ever - something that is reflected in their shopping habits. 56 per cent of people said they had changed their ways when approaching shopping due to global warming and would like to be shown the carbon output of products. 

5. Sustainability is beginning to be something global consumers are taking into consideration when making purchases. 56 per cent of people say that due to concerns about global warming and the environment they have changed their shopping habits, while 63 per cent of global consumers say they would like to shop with retailers and brands that have a purpose beyond just selling their products and services.