Online shopping has had a strong growth in the last two years, where the covid-19 health emergency and social isolation forced many businesses to take a step forward into the virtual world. For this reason the digital commerce platform and the agency have presented the market study on the consumption habits of Spaniards when making purchases in the online supermarket, which seeks to provide information on the profile of the online food buyer and how he takes the purchase decisions.
This study is based on a survey carried out online with 1,779 Spanish users (men and women) during March 2021, and provides valuable data on consumption habits, shopping channels, coexistence of online and offline mode, payment methods, among other aspects.
Let’s take a closer look at the main conclusions of this study and the preferences that can be exploited by digital and traditional supermarkets.
This is how we buy in online supermarkets
The first thing that is very important to highlight is to identify who is the consumer public that makes greater use of digital platforms. In this sense, the Internet user population of Spain is made up of a total of 30.9 million users aged between 18 and 75 years. Within this population, 31% (10.4 million) shop online in digital supermarkets at least once a year.
We can observe a very interesting trend, it is that the preference for online purchases does not have a great difference by gender but rather by the user age ranges. Thus, the group with the greatest penetration of shopping habits in online supermarkets is that of 56 to 70 years (28%) followed by customers between 41 and 55 (27%).
The buyer in online supermarkets uses on average 4.5. The first and favorite social network is Facebook with 79% of users, followed by Instagram with 62%, YouTube with 54% and Twitter with 45%. Among the social networks that are less used but also with a high percentage of acceptance are LinkedIn with 36%, Pinterest with 27%, and finally with 23%.
Some other relevant demographic data from the survey shows that the 56% of customers of online supermarkets in Spain have a stable job58% of them are university graduates, 40% have small children at home and the family nuclei are mostly made up of 3 members.
The mobile is the king device to access the internet; nevertheless the computer is the most used for the purchase of super online. Men and older people (>55 years old) are the ones who use the computer the most; while women and younger people use the mobile phone more for shopping
How we buy in online supermarkets
By analyzing the main reason that moves Spaniards to buy online, 86% prefer practicality and comfort, closely followed by the ease of use expressed by 84% of users. For their part, 80% believe that there is a greater range of products, while 79% prefer online shopping for saving time, offers and promotions. In addition, it was revealed that the average satisfaction with respect to an online supermarket is 7.9 out of 10, highlighting Lidl as the supermarket with the highest level of satisfaction (8 out of 10), followed by and (both with 7.7 out of 10).
In terms of omnichannel, the same purchase preference and behavior is observed in all targets. Of every 10 purchases made in supermarkets, 7 are made in a physical store and 3 are made online. Despite the fact that traditional purchases still predominate in consumption habits, online purchases have gained a very important place in day-to-day life, mainly among younger users. Regarding the type of store in which they make purchases, the majority of Spaniards (84%) affirm that they make purchases in establishments that have both physical and online stores; 25% do so in exclusive online stores and 13% in web pages of discounts or coupons.
Now, there is a somewhat paradoxical behavior because the frequency of traditional purchases is greater (average 6 times/month off vs. 2 times/month on), but the money spent increases significantly online (average of 76 euros off vs. 93 euros on).
On the other hand, the 61% of users have stated that they have the same level of satisfaction in both purchase channels; in fact, users of a higher age range value both physical and online purchases in the same way. 30% of users (both young and old) say they are more satisfied with offline purchases.
Within the type of store we see that currently the 51% of people buy almost everything in physical stores, while 38% prefer to buy in establishments that have a physical and virtual store. Only 11% of users prefer to buy exclusively online.
But let’s see a little future projection, because the scenario changes. The 70% of the population say they will combine both channels (online and offline) and 24% would prefer to continue buying mostly in physical. If we combine the data from purchase satisfaction and type of store, we can see that the companies that choose to improve and assume a space in digital platforms will have a very favorable opportunity for growth and expansion.
The drivers to go to the online store are different from those of the offline store, in the digital one the important thing is: that they do not charge the expenses of
shipping, easy search and purchase, fast delivery and best prices; while in the physical store the direct contact with
product and be able to take the product at the moment These are aspects that the digital channel cannot offer.
What do we buy in online supermarkets
Let’s study a little about the products that users prefer to buy in digital supermarkets. Leading the list are the drinks with 64% of purchasesclosely followed by dry foods with 61%. Other products in great demand in online supermarkets are dairy products, beverages and vegetable desserts with 55%, the drugstore (52%), household accessories (42%), snacks with 40%, frozen 35% and perfumery with 32%.
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