Rise of the Meticulous Shopper
In a recession, consumer behaviour changes rapidly as people think carefully about their holidays, investments, entertainment and their weekly shopping to name but a few. The Internet facilitates these changes as consumers can quickly research alternatives and seek out the best deals online. Search trends and online behaviour have become leading indicators of consumer attitudes and interests. We've used Google’s free insights tools to look at some of these changes in this presentation (11MB PDF).
We have seen the recession accelerate the rise of independent consumers who meticulously research big-ticket items as well as everyday purchases online. Consumers haven’t stopped spending; in fact, the April 09 IMRG Capgemini e-Retail sales index has revealed that online retail sales grew 14% over the last year. However, there is a renewed energy to get the best value available. As a result price comparison is now more important than ever; sites such as mysupermarket.co.uk are seeing far greater search volumes than the category average. Online discount vouchers are now hugely popular within the shopping and food categories and savvy businesses are tapping into this to drive online sales or footfall in-store.
The net is aiding peer to peer testimony as consumers increasingly use blogs, forums, review sites and social networks as a trusted and natural part of the purchasing cycle.
Download the presentation with these and other insights that we have found using our insights tools.
Google on the street is going out to see if people agree with our findings so watch out for our upcoming posts. If you have ideas for other topics which you would like us to explore please email us.