Do we really understand how people shop?

What drives people to buy? Does it change if your core shopper is a Millennial or a Boomer? And what impact does category have?

Launching today, Shopping Uncovered is our latest report that seeks to answers some of our industry’s most pertinent questions. By delving into the attitudes and opinions of more than a thousand home and leisure shoppers we’ve been able to paint a clearer, more in-depth picture of how we shop today.

Shopping Uncovered investigates the ‘six key forces to buy’ – price, need to touch, shopping experience, education, brand and social validation – and their power of influence by generation and category.

Here’s a sneak peek at some of what we found:

Shoppers seek value and social approval – Price was the single biggest driving factor for the majority of shoppers – 68% hunt out the lowest price and are tempted by a bargain. Shoppers are also heavily influenced by others – 64% agreed that social approval is a major force in their decision to buy.

Having a pleasant shopping experience is important to all generations – this is the third most important factor overall.

Physical contact with products remains a priority – 60% feel the need to touch before they buy with the same proportion seeking advice and education.

Shoppers were least likely to be influenced by brand names – 49% agreed that this mattered.

The findings certainly raised some interesting and surprising findings as well as confirmed some of what we know.

We were amazed at how subtle the differences are between the generations, particularly in the continued need for a physical store. No matter how old or young you are, we all still enjoy the whole shopping experience and want to see and touch before we part with our cash.

If a brand can’t compete on price they can get the edge by providing an exceptional shopping experience, which is easy for customers to share.

And of course the findings tell us that we’re all going to have to work harder on brand stories to make them more compelling and to ensure brand investment actually inspires shoppers to act.

Shopper Forces model

This is the first study to use our new Shopper Forces model, which we developed to enable the unique mapping of the relative influence of ‘the six key forces to buy’ – those drivers subconsciously exerted on us every time we shop. It explains where the power lies in our shopping decisions and therefore can lead to better prioritisation of marketing budgets.

Contact us today to find out how we can use our Shopper Forces model to help you plan and prioritise.

You can download ‘Shopping Uncovered – How We Really Shop’ now