Britons prefer to buy higher-priced goods at physical stores

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jan 22, 2018

E-tail may be surging, but at the luxury end of the market, its growth potential could be limited. A new study shows that almost two-thirds of UK consumers are unwilling to make expensive purchases online and prefer to head in-store when they’re going to spend larger amounts.

Most shoppers believe in-store purchasing is better for more expensive items because they can see exactly what a product looks like before committing to the purchase, even though they’re able to return anything bought online for a full refund. 

The study by e-commerce agency PushON showed that 82% think they can be more secure in the knowledge that they’ve bought the right product in a face-to-face setting And the survey of 1,000 people also showed that 62% would rather buy in stores. But that still leaves 38% prepared to go online, some of them doing so despite feeling less certain that what they’re looking at is right for them.

Yet online is important even for those determined physical store shoppers as 47% of consumers prefer to do their initial research online, and will only then go to a store where they can make the most store of the help and knowledge of customer service assistants.

In fact, 79% said that a product they bought at a physical location had been spotted online first.

So how much would they be prepared to commit to an online purchase? Up to £1,000, according to 39% of respondents, although it seems that as the price rises within that limit, shoppers become less comfortable buying online.

This research was carried out as part of PushON’s Webrooming vs Showrooming report, which looks at consumers’ shopping preferences and how they prefer to buy considered purchases.

MD Sam Rutley said: “Consumers seem to feel very comfortable researching expensive products online, because they can compare a lot of options in a small amount of time without having to travel to lots of different shops. But the issue lies with when they come to make the final purchase, as many don’t currently feel confident doing this over the internet, mainly because they can’t see what the product looks like in real life.

“With customers reluctant to spend large amounts online, this limits the types of sales that retailers can make through their websites. Of course, this will have a greater effect on those retailers that sell higher value purchases and could drastically lower their online sales.”

Suggested solutions include a boost to customer services operations to offer consumers more help with online purchases.

However, the logistics behind buying online could also be improved. At present, while fashion retailers lower down the price scale are racing to offer try-before-you-buy, at luxury level, consumers are still expected to spend hundreds or thousands of pounds on items they haven’t yet seen.

And despite this level of spend, deliveries can still take several days, with returns and refunds an even slower process. That could mean a shopper mulling the purchase of, say, two luxury handbags, might need to commit over £1,000 to online purchases and not have the funds available to buy an alternative for up to 10 days as the money slowly works it way back into their account.