Entrepreneurs, Take Note: 9 Trends in Online Purchasing Habits

Trends in online purchasing habits

According to U.S. Census Bureau data, in the first quarter of 2024, e-commerce comprised 15.9 percent of total sales. This number is expected to grow, so it’s essential for online retailers to maximize consumer interests and tendencies to accommodate their needs and boost sales. 

Here are nine vital online purchasing habits and trends online sellers must consider. 

Consumers expect personalized experiences in their online sales.

Consumers expect companies to know their preferences and understand their behavior — and they want sellers to keep that information in mind when communicating with them. 

It’s crucial to send your subscribers relevant, personalized offers to boost sales — and not annoy them. In a recent report from Wunderkind, more than 83 percent of consumers surveyed said they are very or somewhat likely to buy after receiving brand communication highlighting the exact products they’ve recently browsed for. Additionally, more than 52 percent became frustrated when they received irrelevant communications, and 41 percent were less inclined to shop with brands that didn’t deliver personalized communications.

To boost personalization efforts, consider the following: 

• Collect data on customer preferences and habits. Gathering customer preferences and shopping habits, including past purchase data, helps retailers tailor their website offerings and email marketing campaigns to customers. Website and email personalization can increase conversions, keeping customers loyal and countering their tendency to shop around.
• Use your POS system for personalized campaigns. Retailers don’t have to spend thousands on marketing analytics software. Everyday tools, including the best POS systems, can help you collect and analyze customer data to create highly personalized campaigns. For example, many POS system features include a customer management module that links sales to each buyer, providing essential data for personalized campaigns.
• Monitor devices and channels to personalize campaigns. Mobile devices and social media channels can provide excellent opportunities to personalize the customer experience. However, you must first understand where and how consumers interact with your brand. For example, if a consumer likes your Instagram post, send them a special discount for Instagram followers to prompt them to take action. Additionally, you can reach mobile device users via geofencing, text message marketing and other mobile device marketing strategies.

2. Consumers have more power than ever.

Amid stiff competition and high expectations, customers have more power than ever. Online retailers must do everything possible to earn and keep consumers’ business. Consider the following ways customers are in control:

• Consumers can effortlessly compare prices and competitors. Consumers can access hundreds of your competitors with the touch of a button. Smartphones and mobile apps make price comparisons and instant shopping decisions easier than ever. Even if customers are loyal to some retailers, they can quickly switch to competitors when inundated with attractive offers.
• Consumers can share their experiences online. In the age of social media and online reviews, customers can share their experiences like never before. People’s likes and dislikes can be broadcasted to hundreds or thousands of people via Facebook, X, Snapchat, Instagram and online review sites. Customers who have a negative experience can tell the world about it in an instant. Conversely, they can share their excellent experiences and positive interactions in good customer reviews. 

Online retailers must earn an excellent reputation through customer satisfaction. To do this, take the following actions: 

• Harness the power of word-of-mouth advertising. You may not be able to stop customers from shopping around, but you can build brand advocacy through word-of-mouth advertising and increase your reach. 
• Get customers’ attention early. Retailers must fight for a share of customers’ attention early in the sales funnel as they shop around. 
• Create a frictionless buying experience. You must also reduce friction on your e-commerce website so the customer’s experience is pleasant and seamless. 
• Build a relationship with customers. The sale is never final. Retailers must earn repeat business by offering attractive promotions, loyalty programs and perks, community building, and excellent customer service.

3. Consumers take their privacy seriously.

According to DataGrail’s 2024 Data Privacy Trends Report, businesses have seen a 246 percent increase in privacy requests from consumers since 2021, including requests to delete data, not sell their private information, and opt out of data collection measures. Additionally, 85 percent of consumers in a McKinsey study said knowing a company’s data policies is important before making a purchase. Nearly half (46 percent) said they often or always consider switching to another brand when data policies are unclear or aren’t divulged.

As much as the online environment provides opportunities to collect data and information on customers’ preferences, likes and dislikes — and to enable customization and personalized experiences — taking customers’ privacy concerns seriously is critical. Never sell customer email addresses, don’t spam them, and ensure you manage their data securely. 

4. Customers want easy checkout and payment options.

Online shoppers want a quick and easy checkout process. Here are a few ways to accomplish this. 

• Save customer checkout information. Saving your customers’ billing and shipping information is an effective way to create a fast checkout process for regular customers. 
• Offer an account-setup option after purchase. New customers may not want to take the time to set up an account before completing their purchase. Consider offering them the option to set up an account after their purchase using data from your checkout page to populate the fields. 
• Allow customers to register via another account. Allow new customers to register via the login credentials for their Google, Apple or Facebook accounts. You could also set up shop on an e-commerce platform that allows customers to have one account for multiple merchants.
• Offer multiple payment options. You can make more sales with more e-commerce payment options. If you don’t accept a customer’s preferred payment form, you may end up with an abandoned shopping cart and a lost sale. Choose a payment processor that gives customers multiple payment options, including peer-to-peer services like PayPal and Venmo and mobile wallets like Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Google Pay.

5. Sustainability is vital to online shoppers.

Today’s online customers are more aware of the effects of their purchasing decisions on the earth’s resources. According to the Sustainable Consumer 2023 report, 30 percent of respondents say they’ve stopped buying certain products because of ethical or sustainability concerns. In fact, 61 percent of U.S. consumers say sustainability is essential when deciding to buy a new product, and a quarter of consumers say they’re willing to pay more for sustainable products and services.

Implementing low-waste business practices, non-polluting manufacturing, and biodegradable packaging shows customers you care about sustainability. Telling customers about your sustainable practices (green marketing) may help drive targeted audiences to your site and increase customer loyalty. For instance, consider letting customers know you use eco-friendly packaging and sustainable items in product manufacturing. In many instances, green business practices, such as solar power, can save you money.

6. Shoppers use social media to research and purchase.

Emarketer says 110 million Americans will engage in social commerce in 2024, which is an astounding 42 percent of all internet users and 50.3 percent of all social media users. According to Salesforce’s Connected Shopper report, many social media shoppers use top platforms (Instagram, Facebook and TikTok lead the way) to discover and research new products (50 percent), but a considerable number (59 percent) make direct purchases from their social media accounts. 

Social media shopping is an online purchasing habit that’s here to stay. In fact, it will likely accelerate dramatically as social platforms assuage shoppers’ fears about data privacy.

7. Customers increasingly use voice assistants for shopping.

Salesforce’s Connected Shoppers Report also revealed nearly a quarter of respondents used voice assistants for purchasing. The predominant voice assistant for shopping is the ubiquitous Echo device’s alter ego, Alexa. Because it’s an Amazon product, Alexa is tied to users’ Amazon accounts, complete with their purchase history and payment methods. More and more, Alexa plays ads and makes product selections, to which a user only needs to say “yes” to place an order.

Other voice assistants are behind in the direct purchasing function, but Apple’s Siri and the Google Assistant are also commonly used to research products for purchase. 

8. Consumers expect a seamless omnichannel experience.

Shoppers often use multiple methods to research purchases, including browsing in-store, visiting company websites, using social media and examining third-party marketplaces like Amazon. Brands must accommodate this online purchasing habit by establishing a presence on their customers’ favorite platforms and unifying their back ends so consumers can pick up where they left off on another platform. It’s crucial to provide consistent shipping, customer service, and shopping functionalities across all touchpoints.

9. Artificial intelligence is gearing up to shape consumers’ shopping experiences. 

Artificial intelligence is transforming industries, and online shopping is no exception. Some e-commerce companies use AI chatbots to answer shoppers’ questions and make recommendations. Still, AI’s primary use currently is behind the scenes, helping retailers write product descriptions, generate e-commerce pages, analyze data, discover buying trends and create highly personalized communications.

However, businesses must be mindful of wary consumers’ attitudes toward their AI usage. According to the 2024 KPMG Consumer Pulse Survey, many consumers aren’t aware companies are using AI to track their online activity. Of those who are aware, only 29 percent are OK with AI analyzing their personal data, while 47 percent say they’re actually uncomfortable with it. Consumers may embrace the AI trend in online shopping, but only if businesses ensure data security and transparency when using AI. 

The best e-commerce platforms to attract online customers

When setting up an online store, you need an e-commerce platform with easy setup, attractive and varied templates, inventory management, shopping carts, payment gateways, shipping functionality and marketing tools. Here are some of our top choices for e-commerce platforms and shopping cart software that can help you capitalize on consumer purchasing trends.

• Shopify: Shopify provides unlimited bandwidth, storage and inventory items, allowing online retailers to facilitate a fast and convenient customer experience. Its robust payment and checkout process has built-in security features to address consumers’ privacy concerns and give them peace of mind. As our Shopify review explains, this platform can help you provide buyers with a range of payment options and is compatible with PayPal, Stripe and Authorize.net.
• Wix: Wix stands out for its easily customizable and attractive website templates for various industries, including fashion, electronics, home and decor, and beauty and wellness. Wix helps online retailers address consumer trends and meet their customers’ needs with dropshipping, subscriptions, print-on-demand and digital products. It’s easy to create a product catalog by importing a file or using the Cart2Cart app.
• Squarespace: Squarespace has an AI assistant to help you write product descriptions and provides various shipping options, including integrations with the U.S. Postal Service and UPS. It also helps you give consumers a seamless omnichannel experience with straightforward payment option integrations (Stripe, PayPal and Apple Pay). Retailers will appreciate its tax tools for compliance, built-in inventory management and mobile app.
• Salesforce Commerce: This enterprise-level platform is used by companies with a large e-commerce business and presence. It offers front-end storefronts, features AI tools for merchants and shoppers, and provides a customer acquisition module with omnichannel personalization and machine learning-driven data insights.
• Shift4Shop (formerly 3dcart): Shift4Shop gives merchants a shared SSL at no additional cost, as well as unlimited bandwidth and storage. It has over 50 customizable templates and is compatible with more than 100 payment gateways. Shift4Shop checkout works seamlessly on desktop and mobile devices — helping you provide the frictionless customer experience your buyers need. Its advanced SEO strategy tools, robust marketing capabilities, and real-time shipping rate information will help you reach and convert more customers.