YouGov poll considers consumer habits

Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - 13:59 by Mike Price

A new poll conducted by YouGov has found that while safe shopping online is popular amongst the majority of UK consumers, m-commerce services and portable devices are helping to keep the high street alive.

Forty four per cent of those questioned in the study said that they would use e-commerce sites more regularly if they were not likely to be faced with charges for the delivery of products purchased.

Meanwhile, twenty four per cent said that they used online services infrequently because they were not entirely enamoured with the process of shopping from a PC.

Forty per cent said that they prefer shopping on the high street rather than via sites offering safe shopping online, although it is clear that the number of people who are of this opinion is becoming smaller.

Interestingly, it was discovered that consumers are now more likely than ever to use a smartphone or tablet to carry out some pre-purchase research about products and then use this information to guide their high street shopping habits.

This is something that other studies have determined, but seeing it reasserted should give retailers clear evidence that taking a multichannel approach is necessary.

Respondents said that they would be more inclined to use a portable device as part of their retail experience, if they were able to reserve a product on their smartphone or tablet and then pick it up at the store later in the day.

This 'click and collect' feature is something that more and more major retailers are turning into a reality and it is also relatively simple to organise, since, of course, there is no need to worry about delivery when the customer is coming in to get the product themselves. An approach which combines online and high street retail is one which many UK consumers seem to prefer.