Despite the growth in online retail, many UK shoppers remain reluctant to undertake their food and drink shopping online – with that reluctance becoming even more entrenched at Christmas time, says a survey out today.
The annual KPMG retail survey also has further bad news for the retail industry as a whole during what is turning into a tough Christmas trading period, highlighting the large amount of shoppers benefiting from discounted purchases and the complete refusal by some shoppers to buy certain products online.
Key findings included:
72% of shoppers stated they would not be doing any food and drink shopping online at Christmas. At any time of the year, 39% of shoppers say they would never use the internet for fresh food purchases.
For some shoppers, certain products remain off-limits as far as online sales are concerned: 34% of shoppers would never buys shoes online while 23% would never buy clothes. However, 47% of shoppers claim they can foresee a day in the future when they would undertake all of their shopping on-line.
Back on the high street, even by the end of the first week in December, 70% of shoppers claim to have benefited from discounted or promotional purchases, with a savvy 2% claiming to have only bought such items.
Commenting on the results, Helen Dickinson, Head of Retail at KPMG, said: “Life is far from easy in the retail sector at the moment and these stats will cause further consternation for internet and high street retailers alike. Starting with the online food and drink retailers, it has been interesting to hear so many saying that they are full to capacity this Christmas and can take no more orders, yet there is almost three-quarters of the UK shopping population steadfastly refusing to make their seasonal food purchases online. This really highlights the point that the internet retail market is nowhere near as large a market as it is often made out.”
“That point is made again when you look at the list of products which some shoppers claim they will never purchase online – at any time of the year. Perhaps unsurprisingly, medicines come out on top with 42%of shoppers refusing to buy them online. However, the magnitude of the next four most popular responses should be enough to send a shiver down the spine of any online retailer – fresh food (39%) shoes (34%), frozen food (28%) and clothes (23%). All of these are online categories which are projected to grow rapidly over the coming years, yet here we have evidence of a sizable group of consumers who still absolutely refuse to make such purchases.”
“However, the fact that 47% of shoppers could envisage themselves doing all of their shopping online some time in the future speaks volumes about the potential for the channel. If the online retailers continue to overcome the reticence amongst certain shoppers, then a sizable chunk of extra spending becomes available to play for.”
In the bricks and mortar section of the KPMG survey – undertaken by online polling organisation YouGov – the extent of discounting and promotional activity across the sector becomes clear. Even by the end of the first week in December, 19% of shoppers claimed that most – if not all – of their Christmas purchases had been promoted or discounted items. A further 51% claimed that a few of their purchases so far had been discounted; highlighting the extent to which retailers have been giving away margin in this tough trading period.
Shoppers were also asked what their shopping preference is nowadays; whether they research potential purchases online or in-store and where they subsequently make the purchase. Unfortunately for retailers, no single combination emerged as the clear favourite although men did prefer to research and buy products online while women preferred to keep the whole process in-store. However, a quarter of all respondents prefer to research online and then buy in-store.
Helen Dickinson concluded: “This again reinforces just how challenging online and multi-channel retailing is; no obvious shopping patterns, a blurring of lines between the channels and a large number of shoppers dead set against using the internet at all. Combine that with a high street which is continuing to give away margin and it’s quite understandable that so many retailers are feeling the pinch this Christmas.”
-ENDS-
Further information:
Media enquiries:
Please contact Simon Griffiths (KPMG Corporate Communications)
Tel: 0121 232 3760 or 07887 657919
Email: simon.m.griffiths@kpmg.co.uk.
Notes to editors:
The KPMG / YouGov survey canvassed 2455 UK adults online from December 4-7, 2006.
