The Truth About Online Consumers
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The truth about online consumers 2017 Global Online Consumer Report kpmg.com/onlineconsumers Foreword Enabled by technology, the continued year over year growth in online shopping has been fueled by a new generation of consumers who want greater convenience, In this report value and options. For consumer businesses, this trend poses both challenges and significant opportunities. How do companies target Competition is no longer limited to local shops during business hours. Consumers Millennials who no longer today are shopping all the time and everywhere; and in a truly global online trust traditional advertising? marketplace, products can easily be purchased from retailers and manufacturers How important are payment located anywhere in the world—or from those with no physical retail locations at all. options in India? Which Consumer demand for richer experiences and greater convenience means that countries are most likely to retailers need to rethink their strategy, both online and in stores. Having the right buy from foreign websites? product mix is no longer sufficient to attract the new wave of consumers including Where are consumers Millennials, who are entirely focused on one transaction—theirs. Creating an online willing to buy groceries shopping experience enhanced by technology such as augmented and virtual reality online? In this report we or 3D is becoming at least as important as providing convenient and personalized ordering, payment and delivery options. answer these and other questions that can help However, despite the rise of online shopping, ecommerce still makes up a relatively inform an online strategy small percentage of total retail spending. Retailers’ brick and mortar strategies also need to evolve to continue to draw customers into their stores, and to compete that is more targeted, with the online retailers opening their own physical outlets. Increasingly, we are effective and customer- seeing innovative marketing strategies, as well as new technologies such as smart centric. shelves, robots, self-checkout, and interactive and virtual reality, being deployed in stores as retailers strive to compete on all fronts. Finding the ‘right’ strategy starts with one question: Given your brand promise, where do you want to compete? Only once a company understands their goals, customers and those customers’ needs can an appropriate strategy be designed. And the key to a sustainable strategy is being able to understand and meet customer needs both today and tomorrow, across geographies, and across generations. In this report, we aim to raise and answer some questions about your company’s approach to ecommerce. Our global research on online consumer behaviors, preferences and attitudes can be leveraged by consumer companies seeking to improve their approach towards winning and retaining customers online. I hope you find this report interesting and insightful. I would like to thank the survey respondents, company executives, and KPMG professionals who invested their time and insights to make this study possible. To learn more about this research, please visit kpmg.com/onlineconsumers or contact a member of KPMG directly. Sincerely, Willy Kruh Global Chair, Consumer Markets KPMG International ©2017 KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”). KPMG International provides no client services and is a Swiss entity with which the independent member firms of the KPMG network are affiliated. Contents What do consumers really want? ......................................................2 The dilemma .....................................................................................2 What 18,430 consumers told us .......................................................3 Online purchase behavior ...................................................................4 Online shopping as a rising trend ......................................................4 Product category trends....................................................................6 Rise of international trade and e-tailers.............................................8 Device preference trends ................................................................12 The path to purchase journey ...........................................................14 Stage 1 — Awareness: triggers and influencers .............................15 Stage 2 — Consideration: product and company research .............16 Stage 3 — Conversion: deciding where and when to buy ..............20 Stage 4 — Evaluation: experience and feedback ............................22 Cycle duration .................................................................................24 Understanding consumer attitudes and motivations ....................27 What’s driving the shift to online? ...................................................27 Overcoming the hurdles to selling online........................................28 Winning the online consumer .........................................................29 Payment options need to be regionally tailored ..............................30 Building consumer trust ..................................................................33 Are experience and trust enough to earn consumer loyalty? ..........34 How KPMG can help .........................................................................35 About KPMG ......................................................................................36 Contact us ......................................................................................Back 2017 Global Online Consumer Report 1 ©2017 KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”). KPMG International provides no client services and is a Swiss entity with which the independent member firms of the KPMG network are affiliated. What do consumers really want? Advances in technology, logistics, payments and trust — coupled with increasing internet and mobile access and consumer demand for convenience — have created a US$1.9 trillion global online shopping arena, where millions of consumers no longer ‘go’ shopping, but literally ‘are’ shopping — at every moment and everywhere. A recent report by KPMG International The dilemma titled ‘Seeking customer centricity The burning question is, how can 1 through omni business models’ , looked consumer and retail companies achieve at how consumer and retail businesses this nirvana of consumer mindreading? are transforming to adapt to the shift How can they identify and keep pace from traditional shop-centric business with the behaviors and preferences of models to a new world where the customers today and tomorrow? How customer is increasingly at the center can they ensure their online strategy of a perpetual shopping experience. In is acutely tailored to attract and win this ‘customer-centric’ reality, retailers the diverse and dynamic customer need to be exceptionally sensitive segments they serve? and responsive to when and where their potential customers are making purchase decisions (both consciously and subconsciously) throughout their ‘always on’ shopping journey. 1 https://www.kpmg.com/cmsurvey 2 2017 Global Online Consumer Report ©2017 KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”). KPMG International provides no client services and is a Swiss entity with which the independent member firms of the KPMG network are affiliated. Baby Boomers Generation X Millennials Born 1946-1965 Born 1966-1981 Born 1982-2001 What 18,430 consumers told us The ultimate purpose of this research ways to filter and classify the data is During 2016, KPMG conducted an was to provide consumer goods and too copious to summarize in a single international study on consumer retail companies with the global and report, so in the following sections behaviors and preferences related to local insights into the specific behaviors we provide an overview of the global online shopping. The research was and preferences of the customers results, highlighting the most significant largely based on an online survey of they want to target. By understanding or interesting trends and comparisons 18,430 consumers living in more than the uniqueness of different customer among the major demographic groups 50 countries. The respondents were segments, companies can tailor their and product categories. online strategies for maximum success. between the ages of 15 and 70, each Executives interested in receiving more having purchased at least one consumer The depth of the data collected for this detailed insights are invited to contact product online in the past 12 months. study makes it possible for companies KPMG to have a member of our team In addition to scrutinizing their online to analyze and forecast the behaviors filter and analyze the full set of data shopping behaviors, preferences, and and preferences of their customers according to your specific requirements decision processes, the study also by geography, generation (Millennials, or target markets. explored consumers’ plans for future Generation X or Baby Boomers) and/ online purchases, factors affecting trust or product category. The number of and loyalty towards certain brands, and their sentiments and attitudes towards the companies that they do, or don’t, choose to buy from. 2017 Global Online Consumer Report 3 ©2017 KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”). KPMG International provides no client services and is a Swiss entity with which the independent member firms of the KPMG network are affiliated. Online purchase behavior Survey respondents were The digital age and