New research by CBRE indicates that, despite almost all households in Ireland owning either a computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone, 90 per cent of consumers buy their non-food products in store.
This suggests that consumers will continue to favour shopping in-store rather than online, according to CBRE. The study of 1,000 Irish consumers also found that despite over 80 per cent owning a smartphone, just 16 per cent buy non-food products on their mobiles.
In its How Irish Consumers Shop 2014 report, CBRE studied the interaction between the online and shop platform throughout the shopping process and found that most Irish consumers, like their European counterparts, juggle a range of channels in the process of research and buying non-food items.
The internet has become a virtual shop window enabling consumers to source, price and compare product. More consumers go online to research products than those that do so at physical stores.
The survey suggests that Irish consumers are becoming better informed thanks to technology but that this is not to the detriment of the physical store as, when it comes to buying a product, that same technology is helping consumers find convenient, physical locations to make their purchases.
Online platform
“These findings prove how crucial it is for any retailer or shopping centre, no matter what size, to have a strong foothold in the online platform, as consumers are now browsing and pricing goods at home, at their desk or on the bus, and using these channels to decide which physical store to visit to purchase the item,” says
Aidan Grimes
of CBRE.
“Our survey has shown that price and convenience are among the top five influences on consumers when deciding where to shop, so to not have an online presence would take a shopping location out of the equation from the beginning.”
The survey also found that 47 per cent of Irish consumers go into a store more than once a week to either browse or buy a product, while a further 39 per cent visit a store on a monthly basis.
Purchasing products online is less frequent with only nine per cent of consumers purchasing an item online on a weekly basis, while 39 per cent of Irish consumers would order an item online on a monthly basis. However, just seven per cent of those surveyed had never bought a product online.
"This study shows just how multi-channel the retail environment has become and how it has not been to the detriment of the physical store," says Suzanne Barrett of CBRE. "Our findings have shown that 93 per cent of consumers have bought an item online over a one-year period, 55 per cent of consumers have compared a product online when in-store, 64 per cent of consumers have click-and-collected, and over half of those consumers have gone on to buy other products in-store when collecting their online order.
“So we can now see for the first time just how technologically savvy the Irish consumer has become and how important all channels are for ensuring the right product is bought at the right price in the right location. This is great news for retailers that have already embraced the online platform and perhaps a wake-up call for those still considering the jump online.”
