Retail and Shopping: Essential data and insights
Retail and Shopping: Essential data and insights

Retail and Shopping: Essential data and insights

From subscription services and e-commerce to tariffs and boycotts, the ways we shop and spend are in flux. Here’s Ipsos’ top data and analysis on what you need to know.

From boycotts to BNPL, the ways we shop and spend are in flux. How should retailers navigate inflation (and shrinkflation)? What do people want from the customer experience? And how will tariffs impact consumers? Here’s a look at Ipsos’ top data on what you need to know.

Key takeaways

 

After price, people choose by selection and convenience

A majority of Americans cite product selection (55%) and convenience (53%) as the primary factors in their purchase decisions (aside from price). The second tier is loyalty/rewards programs (39%) and ease of shopping online or in-store (36%). And then there was customer service/store experience (29%). Everything else got cited by fewer than one in five folks.  (Read more.)

Americans are seeing more sales, and also looking for more ways to pay over time

More Americans (35% up from 29%) say they are more likely to shop with places that offer buy-now-pay-later options, according to the latest data from the Ipsos Consumer Tracker. (Read more.)

Americans are most comfortable with AI shopping agents when they lean on prior preferences

Only a quarter (27%) of Gen Z Americans  — and just 4% of Gen X and Boomers —would trust an AI agent to choose and purchase a product on their behalf, sight unseen. But even those who would let AI spend on their behalf want it to draw on past behaviors when deciding what to buy, whether by limiting the agent to previously purchased brands or to products on a predetermined list. (Read more.)

Private label purchases (and gas prices) are rising

It says a lot about economic uncertainty that for the last year, nearly two-thirds (61%) of Americans think we’re headed for a recession in the next 12 months. Meanwhile, the number of people who said gas prices in their area are falling cratered to just 15% from 38% last summer. And correspondingly, more (69%) now report buying additional private-label products, now seven in ten, up from 59% in August. (Read more.)

Storage, privacy and a preference for brick-and-mortar are the biggest barriers for retail apps

When asked about what barriers people might have to downloading more retail shopping apps, “I prefer shopping in-store” was the top reason cited (by 41%) followed by “I don’t want more apps/don’t have space” (33%), privacy-related concerns about storing payment information (also 33%) and not wanting companies to have access to their data (30%). In good user experience news, 27% think it’s easy enough to shop without the app. (Read more.)

People think prices for some key goods are falling, others rising

Perception of higher gasoline prices compared to the previous year plummeted by 18 points, dropping from 56% to just 38% now. Perceived dairy inflation saw the largest drop among all food categories; only 58% of Americans believe dairy prices are rising, down from a staggering 82% last year. In what is a zero-sum economy, it’s good that some important prices are dropping (or we think they are) because things like electricity are perceived as stubbornly high. (Read more.)

Return hassle a big concern for online shoppers

Much has changed since 2021 in terms of prevalence and convenience of online shopping, but our attitudes haven’t shifted much. People don’t have any major concerns – nothing is over 40% – but there is still measurable concern about timing, and damage and the hassle of returns (which we added this wave.) (Read more.)

People trust authenticity and track record for product reviews

When it comes to product reviews, people trust authenticity/transparency, track record, relatability and their deals. Interestingly, despite all the different ways different generations consume content, there are almost no generational splits in this data, although “relatability” and “engaging content” ranked much lower for those 55+. (Read more.)


 

When it comes to buying products, price wins

 Price beats brand values. So does quality. And quality beats price. Most (57%) also say that they don’t really care about brands, they just buy stuff they need. However, we know that’s oversimplified: We know it varies a lot based on product categories, for instance, and we that if two products have roughly the same price, all of the other factors will tip the scales. But still good to keep in mind. (Read more.)

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