The Future Shopper Report 2021

Hastened by the pandemic, shopping has changed. We've seen marketplaces strengthen their positions, an abundance of new D2C offerings popping up, advances in social commerce, and the rise of the aggregators.

To win online, it's vital that businesses know how consumers are shopping across channels and markets, and how they will shop in the future. Armed with these insights, powerful strategies can be formulated. Welcome to The Future Shopper Report 2021.

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The rise and rise of online commerce

Despite the crippling business impact of COVID-19, in another age, without the ability to trade online, the impact of lockdown closures would have been even more devastating than what we have experienced.

Consumers share the view that digital commerce has been a saving grace in very trying times.

At a Glance

73%

of global shoppers said eCommerce will be more important to them this year

At a Glance

62%

of global shoppers will increase their use of digital shopping channels in future

At a Glance

51%

of spend will be online post COVID-19, according to global shoppers we surveyed

Omnichannel is the future

If a high percentage of consumers are genuinely worried about going back to stores, whilst at the same time they're more comfortable using digital channels and want more digital products, is it time to ring the death knell for physical retail?

Certainly not, according to our findings and the encouraging volumes of shoppers returning to the high street.

At a Glance

64%

of shoppers say that they prefer to shop with brands that have both online and offline presence

At a Glance

59%

of consumers wished brands would communicate semlessly with them across all channels

At a Glance

41%

of global shoppers admit they are still frightened about shopping in-store in the wake of COVID-19

Amazon dominates the customer journey

Digital commerce has changed the customer journey significantly. One retail juggernaut that leads the charge is Amazon. But it's certainly not the Amazon show in all countries as our research reveals.

At a Glance

38%

of global shoppers search for products on Amazon

At a Glance

14%

of all online spend is through Amazon

At a Glance

1 in 5

rate it best for value in Asia, behind Tmall, Taobao and Lazada

Delivery must be fast

One of the key battlegrounds in digital commerce is fulfilment.

In this new world, consumers want fast delivery! When we asked consumers what they would change about the delivery of products, speed came out top.

At a Glance

30%

of global shoppers expect delivery within 24 hours

At a Glance

48%

of shoppers globally told us they wanted faster delivery

At a Glance

66%

of shoppers say marketplaces are best at speedy delivery

Consumers want digital innovation

Our survey results confirm that a majority of shoppers feel more comfortable using digital technology in the wake of the pandemic; and our findings provide a similarly clear message about consumer appetite for digital innovation.