Online is a complimentary offer

We have previously examined how visits to convenience and community based retail schemes typically still outweighs frequency of online shopping for all demographic groups. But what of the people for whom online shopping has become a frequent pastime? Consumer data shows that even the most frequent users of ecommerce are still choosing to shop in-store and are often using Click & Collect (C&C) when they do to merge the two channels.

Results from the latest Ellandi shopper survey captures these changing shopping patterns across a geographically diverse sample of real people doing real shopping. The survey provides an excellent insight into the consumer behaviour in community shopping centres and suggests that those who shop regularly online are not shopping or spending significantly less in physical stores.

Ellandi’s survey finds customers in their schemes tend to be local and loyal with 78% travelling less than 20 minutes to a store. Spending is based on a wide range of essential shopping needs with 48% of customers purchasing from household, fashion, discount and health & beauty as well as more conventional Convenience goods spend through grocery and retail services. This form of shopping requires immediacy, price point and convenience that is not necessarily offered by online channels. It reaffirms the necessity for physical, convenient, local, community driven shopping places.

However, with 39% of survey respondents shopping online frequently (more than monthly), how these shoppers continue to interface with bricks & mortar retail places is a key issue.

The consumer data indicates that online shopping does not appear to significantly impact visitation in convenience and community based shopping centres. The dwell time of the most frequent online shopper, i.e. those who shop online monthly or more often, is longer than might be expected given that they are shopping across different channels, with an average visit of 51 minutes.

Despite their high online penetration this is just five minutes less than those who either never shop online, or do so infrequently. As well as having shorter visits, frequent online shoppers also visit schemes marginally less often (5% less) than those who shop online infrequently.

While these statistics seemingly highlight the fact that frequent online shoppers shop less in physical stores, in fact respondents who shop and browse online regularly tend to have a more purpose driven visit to schemes. With 52% of those who regularly shop online stating that they visit community schemes for a specific retail purpose, compared to 48% for less frequent online shoppers. This ties in with the notion of community shopping centre trips being largely ‘needs based’ essential goods. The importance of purpose driven shopping trips can not be underplayed as this directly results in a shopping trip that is best fulfilled in-store.

The offer in community shopping centres has a strong emphasis on convenience (grocery) goods, retail services and convenience driven food & beverage, but an important element also includes fashion, Comparison and homeware. The fashion and Comparison goods offer in particular tends to be more value and discount driven, for which the cost of delivery and last mile logistics simply don’t stack up for providing an ecommerce solution, while consumers also tend to see these products as largely convenience and needs based rather than a specialist or indulgent purchase.

In essence, many of the goods and services on offer in local high streets and community shopping centres are complimentary to consumer’s online needs. This is further supported by the high instore fulfilment level of online shoppers, with 95% of customers finding everything they wished to purchase during their shopping centre visit with a purchase rate of 79%. When asked whether the shopper would have made the purchase they had bought that day online, 77% would have not.

Additionally, and perhaps surprisingly, the biggest online spenders are found to often outspend other shoppers when they visit a store. Those who shop online monthly or more spend an average of £38 per visit in a community shopping centre, compared to £32 per visit for those who shop online less than monthly.

Consumers are evolving

The assumption that the Baby-Boomer generation are shopping primarily in-store and Millennial shoppers are searching for deals mostly online and eschewing traditional in-store retailing is outdated. Millennials are every bit as important to the vitality of local high streets and community schemes as Baby Boomers. While Millennials are much more likely to frequently visit a regional shopping centre than older shoppers, there is less difference when it comes to visiting a community based scheme at least monthly (>85% for both groups).

Millennials are shopping online three times as often as Baby Boomers, but despite uptake with online retail, Millennial shoppers are still visiting their local centre as a primary means of shopping; 86% of Millennials visit a physical store monthly or more frequently, compared to 61% shopping online frequently. Additionally, Millennials are twice as likely as Baby Boomers to be using C&C.

C&C plays an increasingly vital role in delivering a seamless omnichannel experience to customers and has grown by 60% since 2014. As such, C&C is currently used by 13% of visitors to community shopping centres, is highly effective at bringing shoppers in store, and has also been found to have a positive impact on in store basket spend. This is evidenced by the £40 basket spend of those who use C&C in the scheme, versus a basket spend of £29 for those who don’t use C&C, against an average spend of £35 for all shoppers.

C&C has great synergy with local and community based shopping centres because it is all about convenience versus cost. But, for online shoppers there remain other important factors that keep people coming back to physical stores, besides convenience. Respondents of the survey stated that they still like to visualise, try-on and feel products before purchasing them, as well as interacting with staff and receiving a more personalised service.

Equally the non-retail offer in local high streets and community shopping centres is cited as an important ingredient for driving footfall, purpose, convenience and fulfilment; 90% of Ellandi’s schemes have local amenities such as council office, GPS and dentist embedded within them.

The path to purchase is evolving and those who shop regularly, both in-store and online are making use of the increasing number of shopping channels to do so. Bricks and mortar stores and brands must adjust themselves to the hybrid shopping habits of shoppers in order to prosper in this fast-changing environment.

In fact, all consumers are visiting a wider range of retail locations more frequently and shopping multiple locations in one outing to find what they want. So, while time spent in shopping centres may be falling, purpose driven visits are increasing. This is an important and vital sign for the future health of bricks and mortar retailing.