A recent survey of 2,000 UK consumers from Voyado, a retail technology platform, examining our shopping habits and preferences, shows how our intent isn’t matching reality when it comes to making sustainable choices and reveals that the rise of technology isn’t proving popular with the general consumer.
In the research, conducted by Voyado, there’s a clear indication that despite AI and sustainability being two of the biggest topics in the retail sector it’s having little to no impact on the purchase decisions we are making. Just over a quarter (26 per cent) of those surveyed revealed they haven’t made a single change in order to be more sustainable with their purchase decisions.
When it comes to emerging technologies, especially AI, only 4 per cent have used a VR try-on and just 10 per cent have used AI chatbots to find out more about the products they’re buying. AI seems to be having little effect on purchase decisions when 48 per cent said physically being able to try an item on was the biggest incentive in making a complete purchase.
One of the biggest areas the research focused on was the perceived preference for online shopping and ongoing abandonment of the high street. Despite ‘the death of the high street’ being an ongoing topic, 34 per cent said they make the majority of their purchases on the high street compared to 36 per cent online. However, a sector that is starting to see a rise in popularity is reselling and second-hand outlets with 19 per cent saying they buy the majority of their items from charity shops and 13 per cent from Vinted or Depop.
Karl Stone, head of Voyado, UK, said: “The retail sector is undergoing some of the biggest changes and challenges in its history. The speed at which technology is advancing and consumer preferences are changing is unprecedented and the only way to successfully navigate these changes is to keep up with what consumers really want and what influences them most when making decisions.
“Our research has revealed that the high street still has a clear role to play and retailers should be considering how to make the most of physical bricks and mortar stores in order to keep customers coming in and think about how these stores can benefit from eCommerce and vice versa. Despite the bombardment of news about the rise of AI and tech and how we must all be adopting the latest in order to attract customers, it would seem that we need to be doing more to examine what the right tech is, how it will interact with our existing systems and what will truly benefit consumers during the shopping journey.”
Finally, the research examined how the opinions of others through online reviews influences our decisions. A quarter (25 per cent) have abandoned orders due to bad reviews, with women (30 per cent) more likely to do so than men (20 per cent) suggesting retailers need to focus on customer service both instore and online in order to maximise purchases.
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