On the one hand, an ever greater part of all retail activity worldwide is happening online. On a global scale, the online share in total retail revenue was above 16% in 2022 and is expected to reach one fifth by 2025, according to Statista Digital Market Insights. In leading economies like the U.S. or China, online shares are already moving fast towards the one-third mark. At the same time, eCommerce penetration rates and online shopping frequencies are rising throughout the globe.
On the other hand, shopping realities are becoming ever more interdisciplinary, fitting ever better into peoples’ busy schedules and lifestyles. The combination of offline and online services is typical for an average customer journey of a 2023 shopper. According to Klarna’s current Shopping Pulse report, 81% of shoppers who go to a physical store have at least sometimes done some research on the internet before. Even when they are physically in the store, the majority of shoppers browse the internet to search for comparable offers or to check product reviews – 70% of shoppers state that they use their smartphone in a store for this kind of research at least sometimes. Klarna’s Shopping Pulse insights also reveal where a usual shopping journey starts in 2023:
According to the Klarna analysis, not only the actual checkout, but also earlier steps in the customer journey become more and more digital: Most shopping journeys – no matter if the purchase is concluded online or offline in the end – start at an online touchpoint. With 46%, most customer journeys start with an internet search via Google or another search engine. Online stores are in rank 2, with 40% of retail customer journeys starting there.
The only relevant offline channel in this comparison is physical stores, with just above one third of customers starting their shopping journey there. This makes physical stores roughly as popular as a first touchpoint than browsing through apps and websites other than search engines or online stores. Around one in four shopping journeys starts on a price comparison website. The other options, among them the classic conversation with peers and physical magazines or publications, reach percentages below 20%. Out of the countries analyzed by Klarna, only France stands out. It is the only country out of 17 focus countries where physical stores are the most frequent first touchpoint in a shopping journey – yet together with search engines. Both touchpoints reach 44%. In all other countries, it is one or more digital channels which are at the top.
