Which channels do consumers use when researching products before buying online?

Chart of the Day: Millennials (18-34 year olds) utilize a greater range of channels before purchasing products online than Gen-X and Baby Boomers

As consumers, we are more savvy with our purchases that ever before. By the time we have finally decided to buy a particular product we will have spent a good chunk of time researching our options to try and find the best deal we can for the product that suits our needs.

In research conducted by Salesforce surveying 4,000 consumers across the UK, USA and Canada, it was found that while the respondents spent most of their time researching on the internet before purchasing online they also spent a significant amount of time using multiple channels including email, in person, on mobile apps and more.

Interestingly, there are significant differences between the behavior of millennials, Gen-X and Baby Bloomers. Millennials seems to not favor a particular channel after using websites with an even spread across email, social media, mobile app & on the phone. Gen-X was fairly similar to millennials except they rely less on using the phone to speak to a sales rep, this shows that while the age group ranges up to 54 years old the group as a whole has become much more tech-savvy in recent years. Finally, Baby Boomers were much less likely to switch channels while researching, predominantly utilizing email and websites before making the purchase.

What this research really shows is the importance of a fully integrated multichannel marketing strategy, if you want to success and get one step ahead of your competition, no matter the age group you are targeting

“When researching products, millennials are more than three times as likely to turn to social media and mobile apps (both 48%) than their Baby Boomer counterparts (both 14%).”

Source: Salesforce Connected Shoppers Report
Data Sample: Individual data breakouts across three global markets (Canada, U.K. and U.S.) based on responses from more than 4,000 adults.
Recommended Resource: Integrated Marketing 2020 (free download)

Contributer : Smart Insights