An In-Depth Look Into Today's Online Shoppers

Nevin Barich

LOS ANGELES , March 20, 2018 (Off The Menu) – These days, virtually all aspects of shopping, including food and beverage, are done online. But who exactly are these shoppers? How old are they? What devices do they use? How much time do they spend?

Consumer-centric audience measurement company Verto Analytics recently released a report entitled “The E-Commerce Ecosystem: The State of Cross-Device Digital Shopping” that gave some insight into these shoppers.

Among the highlights:

---Thirty-five percent of online shoppers shop only on mobile devices, while 18% of online shoppers shop only on a PC device. However, the majority of total online shoppers use multiple devices in e-commerce.

---While total amount of time spent shopping on mobile devices experiences consistent activity throughout the day, time spent shopping on PCs shows a distinct peak between 6-9pm.

---The super shopper is a 47 year-old woman with a household income under $50,000 who spends 44 hours per month (nearly two whole days) shopping online, spending the majority of her time on Amazon, eBay, Walmart, and Craigslist.

---The majority of adult online shoppers are Generation X (35%), ahead of millennials (30%), baby boomers (31%), and those aged 75+ (5%). And millennials are most well-represented as light shoppers (based on amount of time spent per month), comprising 35% of that category.

---A heavy shopper will visit or use an online shopping property for 27 days over the course of a 30-day month, or near-daily online shopping activity.

---Total amount of time spent shopping online shows a spike in user numbers in the evening, but the average session durations are longer in the mornings, especially during 8-10am.

---When it comes to multitasking - one session during which at least four different apps are used with at least seven different shifts (from app to app) - the average shopping device session includes six distinct apps.

---Shopping apps are being used before and after other shopping apps (i.e., using Amazon and Target) in 23% of all shopping device sessions that occur on PCs, smartphones, and tablets. Social media and communications apps are used before and after shopping apps nearly 20% of the time.

Nevin Barich is the Food and Beverage Analyst for Industry Intelligence, which can help YOU better address your own industry challenges. We invite you to come take a look at our service. Call us today at 310-553-0008 and we’ll schedule you for a 15-minute demo.

* All content is copyrighted by Industry Intelligence, or the original respective author or source. You may not recirculate, redistrubte or publish the analysis and presentation included in the service without Industry Intelligence's prior written consent. Please review our terms of use.