Business process outsourcer Webhelp has issued a new piece of research in partnership with market research firm YouGov, looking at consumer buying behaviours and preferences in the run up to the holiday season.
The research includes an online survey of 2038 UK adults, carried out between 9 and 10 November 2021. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has had a clear impact on shopper behaviour, driving massive uptake in ecommerce – a finding the survey supports, with 48% of GB adults who celebrate Christmas planning to shop mostly or entirely online.
Among the other key findings were that:
- 46% of those surveyed strongly agreed that high street shopping is “an important part of British life”, with 45% planning to do at some amount of shopping in store.
- 68% of those surveyed were unconcerned about the potential for supply chain issues disrupting Christmas shopping
- Half of those aged 18-24 feel retailers do personalisation well, versus just 21% of those aged over 55
The research also found the pandemic was having an impact on loyalty, with 32% of those surveyed saying they have started visiting different shops or websites that they weren’t using prior to the pandemic.
“Although signs are looking positive for the high street, the pandemic has nevertheless had a massive impact,” said Vanessa Flather, Managing Director, Retail, Travel & E-commerce at Webhelp. “With almost half of all shoppers planning to do their Christmas shopping entirely or mostly online, they’re coming to expect higher quality levels of service and convenience and so the importance of getting online retail experiences right, is more vital than ever.”
Financial concerns were top of the mind for those doing Christmas shopping, with 31% saying they had less disposable income compared to the previous year. Indeed, 60% pointed to value for money being the deciding factor for where they shop, followed by low prices and promotions at 40% and cheap shipping and delivery costs at 35%.
