Our partner Shopgate has carried out its second annual Retail Reality Study. Unlike other studies, Shopgate surveys both merchants and consumers, highlighting common ground and differences in the way the two parties view the retail scene. Find out how the market has changed since last year, what role omnichannel has played in those changes, and how merchants’ and customers’ views differ.
Retail Reality round two
Just as they did in 2022, the team at Shopgate has published a study examining and comparing merchants’ and consumers’ points of view. The focus was on the most important changes and trends, from shopping habits to sector-based differences and technical innovations.
The aim was to investigate the dynamics belgium telegram screening of the retail market in order to understand how the DACH region is changing and what role omnichannel is playing in that process. Over 2,000 consumers and 300 merchants from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland were surveyed. To ensure a broad, representative spectrum, the team deliberately chose a diverse selection of participants: The merchants surveyed represent a range of different sectors and sizes of company.
Below, we discuss the key findings and how the situation compares with last year.
Online or offline? When it comes to where consumers prefer to shop, there’s not always a clear answer
Overall, the online store emerged as the consumers’ number one choice of shopping channel. Brick-and-mortar stores came second, followed by social media, apps, and catalogs/magazines. However, if we take a closer look, the order varies from sector to sector. For example, consumers prefer to buy beauty products in brick-and-mortar stores (55%) rather than online (48%). The picture is similar with homeware. Here, 60% prefer brick-and-mortar. This may be down to the inherent advantages and disadvantages of the individual shopping channels – for example, the inability to inspect and handle the products in an online store. The online store is the most popular choice when shopping for consumer electronics (63%). This could be the result of product availability and selection.