2018 Online Shopping and Technology Trends Survey

Study: 10% of Online Shoppers Have Already Tried Augmented Reality—With 67% of Them Ready to Shop Exclusively Online 

–‘Online Shopping and Technology Trends’ Report Released by Adtaxi–

DENVER (May 31, 2018)—Adtaxi, one of the country’s fastest-growing digital marketing agencies, today released the results of its 2018 Online Shopping and Technology Trends Survey. An inaugural initiative, the survey examined Americans’ online shopping habits, behaviors and preferences—covering topics from voice assistants to augmented reality to privacy concerns to mobile apps and beyond.

“There is no question that the ecommerce market is exploding, and that consumers are increasingly making purchases online,” said Evan Tennant, National Director of Ecommerce at Adtaxi. “To meet the increasing demand, the technological landscape is quickly advancing with consumer preferences, and our survey captures a snapshot of the exciting evolution currently reshaping the shopper experience.”

Among the study’s findings:

• Online Shopping vs. In-Store Shopping: 66% of respondents make an online purchase at least once a month. Over half (52%) of ecommerce shoppers spend as much, or more, of their dollars online than in-store.
• Augmented Reality (AR): 10% have used an AR app for online shopping (e.g. virtually “trying on” clothing or viewing how furniture would look in a home), 67% of whom would never again shop in-store for clothes if AR made it possible to do so.
• Voice Assistants: 27% own a voice-activated smart device, such as the Amazon Echo or Google Home; 24% have used one to make a purchase.
• Privacy Concerns: 64% of respondents are concerned about a voice-activated smart device threatening their privacy; 46% of them would not let this concern stop them from purchasing one.
• Purchase Behavior: 63% have made an online purchased prompted by seeing a digital ad; most (60%) of those prompted to make an online purchase saw the ad on social media.
• Mobile and Text: 65% have used a mobile app for online shopping, the most popular reason being that mobile apps are easy to use (51%) and save time (19%). Meanwhile, 82% of consumers would not consider receiving texts from brands, even if the ad was personally relevant.

“We now live in an on-demand world, where customers are beginning to favor innovations that make purchases faster, more efficient and pain-free,” Tennant said. “As this survey indicates, technologies like voice-activated devices and AR have gained traction and are on the fringe of becoming mainstream in the next few years—which we anticipate will cause a shift toward consumers shopping more heavily online.”

Methodology
The study was conducted online using Survey Monkey. One thousand participants were polled, spanning across the United States. The demographics of those polled represented a broad range of household income, geographic location, age, and gender.