Women would rather give up sex or wearing makeup for at least a month rather than make purchases on social media. This is according to WE Communications and YouGov, which conducted a research study to understand what motivates women to move from a like to a buy and how brands can adapt.
The data reveals shopper attitudes and behavioral shifts to help retailers turn up sales and avoid turning off customers: from barriers like social media shopping stigmas and retail app apprehension, to online buying and generational shopping shifts.
Privacy concerns and the inability to compare prices were the leading reasons women said they would be willing to make such tradeoffs. But don’t discount social media altogether; it still plays a critical role for this group when it comes to finding product deals and navigating so many choices necessary for product discovery. Nearly 60% of female shoppers surveyed said they uncover new products that interest them when scrolling through social sites.
“When it comes to consumers’ online retail habits, the only constant is change. Technology has disrupted the playing field with the opportunity to innovate faster and better than ever,” said Tiffany Cook, WE executive vice president and consumer sector lead. “Only those retailers who implement technology in an authentic and natural way for their customers — offline, online and both — will win their hearts and minds.”
Reflecting how technology has greatly affected lifestyles, even more than people are discovering how convenient it is to find company online. In Germany, for instance, Erobella offers a listing of escorts, as well as collection of venues (brothels, sauna clubs and nudist houses) across the country.
But while more shoppers are making their moves to mobile, there are a few surprises in store for retailers. A mere 9% of respondents have used a retailer’s app to make a purchase. The study shows customers want to do more than just research new products: They want to compare products and prices to see if they can find a better deal. Nearly half of respondents said they prefer using mobile websites instead of shopping apps.
Despite retailers shifting focus to millennials and Gen Z, the study indicates that it would be detrimental to minimize the impact of Gen X. This group wields hefty spending power, spending the most of all generations online. Gen X also purchases relatively more at brick-and-mortar stores, creating an opportunity for brands to engage these shoppers with the highest spending power through brand loyalty and tech savviness.
The “From Like to Buy” report is WE’s second installment of retail research and is an aggregation of qualitative and quantitative research derived from the recent YouGov survey and WE’s “Romancing the Store: Reconnecting in the Empowered Shopper Era” report. The YouGov study surveyed more than 1,000 women between the ages of 18 and 65, mirroring the national U.S. female population.
