Low prices remain top draw for online shoppers

Tuesday, May 10, 2016 - 09:07 by David Aiken

A new survey from GfK has found that bargain hunting is the biggest reason to shop online for the majority of consumers from around the globe.

More than 23,000 people participated in this international report, with questions focused on finding out what motivates people to shop both online and at bricks and mortar outlets.

Aside from the ability to get better prices by searching the internet, 28 per cent of respondents said that they chose to make purchases via safe shopping online because it was more convenient than heading to the high street.

A quarter said that there was a wider variety of products available on e-commerce sites, with the same proportion also citing the speedy nature of online shopping as being a bonus.

A fifth said that the web was the best place to look up product information, with a similar number also stating that they were simply in the habit of shopping online and thus were unlikely to revert to making purchases in shops.

Those who still find that buying on the high street holds the most appeal said that it is the ability to get a firsthand experience of products, seeing and touching them in the flesh, which gives it the edge over e-commerce.

Close to a third said that it was simpler to return unwanted items to high street stores than to deal with the returns process offered by online retailers.

There are clearly differing opinions on what makes certain shopping platforms worth using, even in the age of widespread internet access. But in most cases, people combine both online and in-store shopping, rather than solely sticking with one or the other, to make sure that they get the best deals in the most convenient manner possible.