It’s no secret that online shopping is taking a bite out of brick-and-mortar, especially around the holidays.
But market research firm Field Agent, in its comprehensive “2017 Holiday Shopping” report, drilled down beyond convenience to see what specifically tees consumers off.
According to the 2,020 adults surveyed, crowds and long lines are the No. 1 beef with in-store shopping, followed closely by out-of-stocks and the behavior of fellow customers.
If that’s not enough to keep shoppers home, insufficient parking and poor customer service were also cited as top brick-and-mortar bugaboos.
As one Field Agent secret shopper said, “Overcrowded stores and under-trained customer service agents create a terrible shopping environment.”
As a result, 78 percent of respondents said they are either completely or very likely to buy holiday gifts online this season, and 66 percent expect to do so more this year than last.
That’s especially good news for the tech industry, as 56 percent said they are most likely to purchase CE online, more so than any other product category.
Not surprisingly, Amazon was the No. 1 online destination for holiday shopping, cited by 74 percent of respondents. Walmart.com came in a distant with 11 percent, followed by eBay with 6 percent.
That’s not to say that physical showrooms are out of the picture. Virtually every respondent plans to visit at least one brick-and-mortar store during the holiday season, and most (33 percent) expect to shop between six and 10 locations.
What’s more, 64 percent of shoppers polled said they are more likely to use instore pickup when buying holiday gifts online.
All told, Amazon was named as the top holiday destination overall, followed by Walmart, Target, Best Buy and Kohl’s.
