What consumers are buying online, Christmas 2023
We surveyed clients last week to see what they were buying online to help us to know what people are seeking for online purchasing and to help our clients target the popular sectors for online purchases.
Respondents were able to pick multiple online sectors so these % won’t add up to a collective 100%, for clarity.
Equal first was alcohol and childrenswear or toys with over 60% of respondents purchasing these goods online. Second was cosmetics (46.7%), followed closely sportwear (36.67%), homeware (33.33%) and then health supplements (6.67%). In the ‘Other’ category (which included a further 13.33% of respondents) other sectors included vouchers, food and adult clothing and accessories.
So where is the opportunity in this data for you?
There was not a singular respondent who said they wouldn’t be purchasing online, so that supports the ongoing importance of eCommerce as a predominant means of sales.
Whilst retail has recovered as a recreational activity, it seems for goods that are straightforward in terms of expectations (alcohol, cosmetics, toys etc) then it is a popular way of acquiring them. I know from personal experience that buying my own clothes and shoes, or larger household items i.e., sofas are problematic unless you are shopping IRL (in real life) because description, feel, touch and sizing cannot be easily obtained in the online experience. But for straightforward gifting for family and stocking up my bar, its online all the way!
If you are a general online store then this will show you what are other popular choices for online purchases, for you to target your existing client base with.
Many of our clients have a hard won and loyal client base. Use this data to cross sell complementary goods from other sectors maximising your revenue from your existing customer base. For example, for alcohol clients, hampers would work with their existing client base, or for childrenswear clothing then adding toys could add great revenue streams. The great thing about this is we have the skill set to fulfil multiple types of goods, so you know the logistics is sorted – it’s just down to you to find marketable products.
The cost of living squeeze may be on – but for life’s little luxuries – alcohol, cosmetics and gifts for the little ones – we see no slump in online consumer spend.
The ‘lipstick theory’ of purchasing in times of economic hardship applies. The ‘lipstick theory’ states when facing economic hardship, consumers are willing to buy more less costly products. Instead of buying expensive clothing by way of example, people will buy quality cosmetics, or alcohol or kiddie’s gifts – still a little luxury but smaller in terms of overall purchase cost.
For us at Diamond it reassures us that the top sectors we specialise in are reflected by general consumers online purchases. We have specialist information on each and every sector that you can find in our resources pages and below to help you to grow your business.
I hope this helps you not just this year but for you planning for and even busier Christmas 2024.
