Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

The new avatar of shopping is evident with eCommerce squeezing in stealthily. Though, the online retail shopping is yet to have a sizable chunk of the total retail market the digital medium definitely has an impact on the offline shopping as well.

According to the latest Nielsen report, about half of products buying decisions people make are spontaneous and unplanned. This provides brands an ample opportunity to influence and connect people online that could eventually drive them to non-replenish purchase.

The report highlights online elements that influence non-replenish purchases and what are the top online activities of shoppers before they actually hit the store. It reveals that online resources – includes hearing and researching on social media, looking on retail websites, looking at brand manufacturer website, looking on coupon websites – have a greater impact on such non-replenish purchases than recommendation or ads. Nearly 7% of time shoppers recall using such online resources....

Many local retailers think that the rise of digital has lead to a downturn in business, suggesting that they can’t compete with the online shopping experience.

But according to a recent study commissioned by Google, digital can in fact enhance your business, if used properly.In ‘The 3 New Realities of Local Retail’ Google outlines three key findings:- Digital drives in-store traffic- Smartphones are in-store shopping assistants- Omnichannel shopping deserves omnichannel measurement....

A recent survey by consulting firm Accenture found 63 percent of consumers plan to use a laptop or home computer to make purchases or research items this holiday season, up 16 percentage points from last year.

The smartphone, in particular, is gaining ground. As of August, 174 million people in the U.S. owned one — 72 percent of the mobile market, according to Reston, Va., digital tracking firm comScore. Branding Brand’s research found that mobile devices generated more than half of online retail visits that month, up from 4 percent in 2010.

The digital world generates data even better than sales, so there’s plenty of information on how Americans are using their tech tools.

Accenture’s survey found 24 percent of consumers plan to use a smartphone while shopping, up from 18 percent last year. Almost half of those surveyed are already using or at least would be willing to try services like ApplePay and PayPal that let them use their mobile phone to pay at checkout....