Online and Offline shopping experiences are blurring.

A new research from Google & Ipsos found that 80% of shoppers will research online for holidays shopping before making a purchase this season, and they switch devices to suit their needs. 

“For example, 51% of shoppers will research online and then visit the store to purchase, while 17% will visit a store first and then purchase online. Another 32% will research online, visit store to view a product, then return online to purchase. In short, the shopper’s journey looks less like a funnel and more like a flight map, and the lines between online and offline shopping experiences are blurring.” says Google Retail Industry Director, Todd Pollak.

This integration of the online and offline experiences offers great opportunities but also brings with it risks for all brands / retailers who are focussed on any one of the two formats. It is important to have a "hybrid" commerce strategy.

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The role of mobile in shopping related research.

At the Path To Purchase Institute’s annual Shopper Marketing Expo, Alison Chaltas of GFK shopper and retail strategy, shared a global study that revealed the future of shopping is “getting extreme.”

Chaltas said that a hard economy – with one in three barely able to meet expenses and only 15% living comfortably – is fueling the emergence of a new shopper profile. This “extreme shopper” is wired; 68% research purchases on the internet and buy in store.

While “extreme shopper” was new, the concept of ROBO (research online buy offline) has been around for a while, but the percentage was interestingly high. However, what caught my attention was the way in which the shopper was doing the research and the emergence of mobile as the research tool.

The study found one quarter are using their phone to help shop, and that they’re seeing a broadening of categories this applies to, not just consumer electronics and clothes, but also food and beverages, as well as health and beauty.

They also found a multi-dimensional aspect to mobile shopping: value seeking is the goal of 89%, 51% are using mobile to connect to social media as a shopping tool, 24% are using it transactionally, and 82% informationally.

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