Practicality Will Determine if Brick or Click is the 2017 Back-to-School Leader, Reports NPD

Welcome back to our next post of the season. Today's Article is provided by NPD Group and sheds some light on the trends in back to school shopping.

The complete article is inserted here for the ease of reading and we will discuss some of the key points at the end.

Port Washington, NY, July 17, 2017 — The back-to-school season is the second most important time in the retail calendar for many industries, behind the holiday season. Practical decisions related to factors like price, convenience, and product quality are paramount when it comes to where and how consumers do their back-to-school shopping, whether in-store or online, according to the new Back-to-School Report from leading global information company The NPD Group.


More than 70 percent of last year’s back-to-school purchases were made in stores. Looking across the 14 industries included in the NPD study, in-store purchases varied from a low of 61 percent for sports equipment to a high of 78 percent for school supplies. The most important benefits of in-store shopping identified by consumers, regardless of the category shopped for, point to practical thinking – the ability to get their other shopping done and  having a wide selection of brands/products from which to choose. The go-to retailers for back-to-school purchases were mass merchants like Target and Walmart.


Best/lowest prices, sales/discounts/promotions, and wide product selection are top considerations when deciding where to back-to-school shop – for some key categories, one-stop shopping, and trusted brand availability enter into the top three. Store displays and word-of-mouth are among the top ways consumers research and learn about where to go or what to buy when shopping for most back-to-school categories. Free shipping was identified as one of the most important benefits of online shopping, which represented 21 percent of 2016 back-to-school purchases, on average.


“Back-to-school shopping is about satisfying a list of needs and the retailer or product that delivers value and ease in doing so will ring the sale,” said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst, The NPD Group, Inc. “Brick-and-mortar retail has been challenged this past year and overall online growth, while still strong, has begun to show signs of slowing. How well marketers reengage consumers and meet their needs will determine who prevails as the back-to-school leader.”


The practical personality of back-to-school shoppers is evident in the most important drivers behind their purchase decisions. Regardless of the category being purchased, almost 60 percent of consumers revealed that they only buy back-to-school items on sale/discount. But these shoppers aren’t solely focused on cost, value matters too. Quality/durability and functionality rounded out the top three factors that influenced back-to-school purchases. When it comes to fashion (apparel, footwear, and accessories), comfort takes the place of functionality, ahead of color, style, and brand. Overall, there is little loyalty when it comes to brands, the majority of consumers said they buy both national and store brands. Compared to other shopping seasons, an average of 43 percent of consumers said they are more concerned with the quality of the merchandise they purchase for back-to-school and less concerned about look/design.


“Marketers must appeal to the back-to-school shopper’s sensible side and understand their spending priorities,” says Cohen. ”The spending dynamics that unfold between online and in-store shopping this back-to-school season will be indicative of future consumer behavior. It will be important for manufacturers and retailers to translate the nuances behind back-to-school shopping activity and adjust their strategies for upcoming seasons accordingly.”

Now that you have gone through the article, what do you think ??

There are a couple of hidden facts that I wanted to highlight in the article.

1)  Lowest Price and Discounts/ Promotions were the key factors that shoppers considered when it comes to where to shop from.

2) One Stop Shopping is a win. Shoppers are willing to travel to a store where they will find all the stuff they need rather than having to go to multiple shops and have multiple stops. For this reason Walmart and Target turned out to be successful retailers when it comes to back to school shopping.

3) Online shopping trended low (21%) but this trend is increasing and is expected to be more than 35% this year combined with free shipping options with no minimums. I don't think this is going to slow down as more and more parents are finding it handy to use their smartphones for finding deals and shopping online. And trust me, Amazon, Ebay are cheap but small online shops are gaining more popularity as they offer cheaper rates and free shipping options in an attempt to compete with Amazon/Ebay like giants.

The Back to school season is a hundred of Billion dollars sales event that grows every year and if the above factors are not taken into consideration by retailers be it brick and mortar or online shops the profits will be taken by those who give due consideration to them. So the challenge  is reap the benefits from the event by offering a deal that parents are willing to pay for and that are cheaper than other competitors in the market.

Thank You

by FAAM International

Online Shopping, statistics and trends in 2017

Hello All,

Why Offer products via an Online Store ? Why Buy Online ?

I have faced this question million of times and I hope many of you who run online stores are on the same boat as me. People keep asking me why I am offering products online and why would people buy products online ? The question has been tough to answer in the past. However, the details provided in an article written by Tracey Wallace from which I have taken most of the abstract below provides enough statistics to help answer this question once and for all (hopefully).

By the way. Those of you who love to shop online, you can register on my website and can also follow my online store on  social media. As a token of appreciation I will send each one of you a Discount coupon that can be used to shop online from among the 14000+ products that are offered through my store.  

Now, getting back to the subject below are stats that are segregated into various categories to help understand the importance of the growing online market and the increasing trend of shopping online.

Online shopping

• 51% of Americans prefer to shop online
• 96% of Americans have made an online purchase in their life, 80% in the past month alone
• Ecommerce is growing 23% year-over-year, yet 46% of American small businesses do not have a website
• Online orders increase 8.9% in Q3 2016, but average order value (AOV) increased only 0.2% — indicating that transactional growth is outpacing total revenue

Ecommerce trends by generation

• 67% of Millennials and 56% of Gen Xers prefer to shop on online rather than in-store.
• 41% of Baby Boomers and 28% of Seniors will click to purchase.
• Millennials and Gen Xers spend nearly 50% as much time shopping online each week (six hours) than their older counterparts (four hours).
• 48% of millennials have shopped on marketplaces, 76% at large retailer sites, 46% on webstores or independent boutiques, and 29% at category-specific online stores.
• 56% of Gen Xers have shopped on marketplaces, 76% at large retailer sites, 49% on webstores or independent boutiques, and 37% at category-specific online stores.
• 59% of Baby Boomers have shopped on marketplaces, 74% at large retailer sites, 42% on webstores or independent boutiques, and 39% at category-specific online stores.
• 51% of Seniors have shopped on marketplaces, 66% at large retailer sites, 30% on webstores or independent boutiques, and 44% at category-specific online stores.
• Millennials and Gen Xers spend 6 hours per week shopping online
• Baby Boomers spend 4 per week shopping online.
• Seniors spend 2.5 hours per week shopping online.

Ecommerce trends by parental status

• Parents spend more of their budget online in comparison to non-parents (40% vs. 34%) and spend 75% more time online shopping each week (7 hours vs. 4 hours for non-parents).
• Parents spend 61% more online than non-parents ($1,071 vs. $664).
• Nearly half (49%) of parents stated that they cannot live without online shopping.
• 53% of U.S. parents have shopped on marketplaces, 78% at large retailer sites, 53% on webstores or independent boutiques, and 34% at category-specific online stores.
• 54% of non-parents have shopped on marketplaces, 72% at large retailer sites, 39% on webstores or independent boutiques, and 37% at category-specific online stores.

Ecommerce trends by gender

• Men reported spending 28% more online than women during the past year.
• 52% of men have shopped on marketplaces, 75% at large retailer sites, 39% on webstores or independent boutiques, and 31% at category-specific online stores.
• 56% of women have shopped on marketplaces, 74% at large retailer sites, 48% on webstores or independent boutiques, and 40% at category-specific online stores.
• Men and women both report spending 5 hours per week shopping online.

Ecommerce trends by city-size

• Although they have greater proximity to physical stores, customers in large or mid-size metropolitan areas spend more online annually ($853) than suburban shoppers ($768) or those in rural areas ($684).
• Americans in metropolitan areas are spending the most online.
• 63% of suburban shoppers share that shipping costs are their least favorite part of online shopping.
• 38% of rural shoppers cite strong concerns about online privacy.
• 49% of Americans in metropolitan areas have shopped on marketplaces, 76% at large retailer sites, 45% on webstores or independent boutiques, and 30% at category-specific online stores.
• 60% of Americans in suburban areas have shopped on marketplaces, 73% at large retailer sites, 44% on webstores or independent boutiques, and 42% at category-specific online stores.
• 58% of Americans in rural areas have shopped on marketplaces, 71% at large retailer sites, 39% on webstores or independent boutiques, and 40% at category-specific online stores.
• Americans in metropolitan areas report spending 4.5 hours per week shopping online.
• Americans in suburban and rural areas both spend 5 hours per week shopping online.

Spending and conversion rates

• 51% of Americans think shopping online is the best way to shop, with 49% preferring shopping in-store.
• Americans spend 64% of their shopping budget in-store, and 36% online.
• In the last year, shoppers have spent the most with ecommerce marketplaces ($488), closely followed by major online/offline brands ($409) such as Nordstrom or Best Buy.
• 74% of Americans have shopped at large online/offline brand name retailers, 54% on ecommerce marketplaces, 44% at small and specially online brands and 36% at category-specific online retailers.
• When shopping online, nearly half (48%) of online purchasers first turn to a mass commerce marketplace.
• 31% first shop at a large online/offline brand name retailer, 12% first shop at a category specific online retailer, 7% first turn to a small/speciality online retail brand (more on conversion rates here).

Buying frequency

• 95% of Americans shop online at least yearly.
• 80% of Americans shop online at least monthly.
• 30% of Americans shop online at least weekly.
• 5% of Americans shop online daily.

Customer location at time of purchase

• A quarter of online shoppers (25%) have made an online purchase from a brick-and-mortar store.
• 43% of online shoppers have made a purchase while in bed.
• Millennials and Gen Xers are nearly 3x as likely as Baby Boomers and Seniors to have made an online purchase from bed (59% v 21%).
• 23% of online shoppers have made an online purchase at the office.
• Nearly 3 in 10 (29%) of Millennials and Gen Xers have made a purchase from the office.
• More than 15% of Baby Boomers and Seniors have made a purchase from the office.
• 20% of American online shoppers have purchased from the bathroom or while in the car (a +1 for mobile commerce).
• Millennials and Gen Xers are 5x more likely to have made an online purchase from the bathroom (31% v. 6%) than Baby Boomers and Seniors.
• One in ten customers admitted to buying something online after drinking alcohol.
• Men are more than twice as likely as women to have made a purchase after consuming alcohol (14% to 6%).
• Younger generations are 5x more likely to drink and shop than their older counterparts (15% to 3%).
• Parents are twice as likely as non-parents to have made an online purchase after drinking (15% v 7%).

Types of online goods purchased

• 60% of shoppers have purchased clothing, shoes and accessories items from large retailers, 54% at marketplaces, 44% from category-specific and 45% from webstores.
• 43% of online shoppers have purchased computers or electronics from marketplaces, 41% from large retailers, 29% at category-specific online stores and 17% at webstores.
• 34% of shoppers have purchased beauty items at marketplaces, 31% at large retailers, 29% at webstores and 25% at category-specific online stores.
• 55% of shoppers have purchased books, movies and music shop at a marketplaces, 36% at large retailers, 24% at webstores and 21% at category-specific online stores.
• 18% of shoppers have purchased flowers and gifts on marketplaces, 18% at large retailers, 24% at webstores and 28% category-specific online stores.

Influencing factors on conversion rates

• The top three factors that are very or extremely influential in determining where Americans shop are price (87%), shipping cost and speed (80%) and discount offers (71%).
• Seniors are less influenced by discount offers than other generations: 47% to 74%.
• Almost a quarter of online shoppers (23%) are influenced by social media recommendations.
• 42% online customers find recommendations from friends and family influential, twice the number who cite advertisements as influential when determining where to shop.
• Younger generations more receptive to advertising: Millennials and Gen X are twice as likely as older generations (27% vs. 14%) to be influenced by advertising.
• 23% of shoppers are influenced by social media recommendations/reviews.
• Online shoppers want products to be brought to life with images (78%) and product reviews (69%).
• Female respondents cited that they enjoy online shopping (51% vs. 37% of male respondents), invest more time (60% vs. 46% for male counterparts) to find the best deals and often search for coupon codes to get discounts (48% vs. 29% for males).
• 66% of online shoppers have decided not to buy an item because of shipping costs.
• 72% of females and 59% of males have decided to abandon their purchase because of shipping costs.
• 49% of cite not being able to touch, feel or try a product as one of their least favorite aspects of online shopping.
• 34% said difficult to return items and long delivery estimates were also a pain (indicating a desire for same-day delivery).
• 21% of Americans state that unattractive or hard-to-navigate websites is frustrating when buying online.
• 78% of online shoppers want more images from ecommerce sites.
• 69% of online shoppers want more reviews from ecommerce sites.
• 46% of online shoppers want more product comparisons from ecommerce sites.
• 42% of online shoppers want more testimonials from ecommerce sites.
• 30% of online shoppers want more video from ecommerce sites.
• 42% of online shoppers have made a purchase they later regret.
• Millennials are more likely to experience purchaser’s regret than any other generation (51% v 37%).
• 21% of Americans have accidentally bought something they didn’t want.
• More than half of Millennial and Gen Xers (55%) have overspent when shopping online, while just under two in five (38%) of baby boomers and seniors have done the same.
• 48% of online shoppers have bought or spent more than planned when shopping online.

Social media as an influencing factor on conversion rates

As social commerce continues to grow, these trends are indicative of the massive potential for retailers to connect with shoppers on their favorite platforms.

• 30% of online shoppers say they would be likely to make a purchase from a social media network like Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter or Snapchat.
• 20% of online shoppers would be likely to make a purchase from Facebook.
• 17% of online shoppers would be likely to make a purchase from Pinterest.
• 14% of online shoppers would be likely to make a purchase from Instagram.
• 12% of online shoppers would be likely to make a purchase from Twitter.
• 10% of online shoppers would be likely to make a purchase from Snapchat.
• Men are more likely than women to make a purchase through Facebook (23% vs. 17%).
• Men are more likely than women to make a purchase through Instagram (18% vs. 11%).
• Men are more likely than women to make a purchase through Twitter (17% vs. 7%).
• Men are more likely than women to make a purchase through Snapchat (15% vs. 6%).
• 29% of online shoppers would be likely to follow a brand on Facebook.
• 21% of online shoppers would be likely to follow a brand on Pinterest.
• 21% of online shoppers would be likely to follow a brand on Instagram.
• 18% of online shoppers would be likely to follow a brand on Twitter.
• 13% of online shoppers would be likely to follow a brand on Snapchat.
• 20% of online shoppers would purchase an item a friend has included on their Pinterest board.
• 18% of shoppers would purchase an item a friend liked on Facebook.
• 21% of online shoppers would purchase an item featured in a brand’s Facebook post.
• 18% of online shoppers would purchase an item from a brand’s Pinterest board.
• 51% of Millennials would be likely to make a purchase over social media.
• 36% of Gen Xers would be likely to make a purchase over social media.
• 14% of Baby Boomers would be likely to make a purchase over social media.
• 3% of Seniors would be likely to make a purchase over social media.
• 29% of Millennials and Gen Xers would likely make a purchase through Facebook if given the option.
• 26% of Millennials and Gen Xers would likely make a purchase through Pinterest if given the option.

Online shopping in society

• 2 in 5 (40%) online shoppers say they couldn’t live without online shopping.
• Millennials, Gen X and Baby Boomers are more than twice as likely as seniors to say they couldn’t live without online shopping (43% to 20%).
• Online shoppers are nearly twice as likely to say they could not live without online shopping as they are to say they could not live without streaming music (40% to 21%).
• Online shoppers are 8x as likely to say they could not live without online shopping as they are to say they could not live without dating apps (40% to 8%).

Online store shopper characteristics and trends

• Shoppers on webstores enjoy shopping and visit a variety of retailers.
• Small/speciality online shoppers spend the majority of their budget elsewhere — a yearly average of $501 on marketplaces, $404 at omni-channel retailers and $233 at category specific online retailers.
• Those who have ever shopped at a small/speciality online retailer are more likely than the average shopper to say they enjoy shopping (55% to 45%).
• Average amount spent per year: $182.
• What webstore shoppers buy: Book, movies, music (15%), Clothing, shoes and accessories (27%), flowers and gifts (15%), Health and beauty products (19%).

With these stats it is pretty obvious that the future shopping  is going to depend heavily on online stores and hence it not only makes sense to buy online but also to offer products for sale online as well.

If you are reading this I congratulate you to reach the end and appreciate your time. Once again I will like to remind all my readers and online purchasers to register on my online store to receive updates on discounts and deals  regularly and to qualify for a Discount Coupon that can be used to purchase through my online store.

And yes as the stats reveal, Shipping costs are hefty so we have ensured all our US and Canadian customer get FREE SHIPPING with NO Minimums !

Presented by :

Faam International

                                                                                                                            www.FAAMIntl.com

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Best Deals to Buy in July

Once again FAAM International would like to thank all the readers for taking the time to read our articles and to like them.


Now that the Father's Day sale is long over and the JULY 1st (For Canada) and JULY 4th (FOR US Customers) sales are about to be over. One must be wondering what are the best items to peek into in the remaining month of July to find a good deal.


So without any further delay we are providing a list some of the most obvious items that sell good in July and of course come with good deals in this month.


1) Tools:


The Father's Day sales from last month may be over, but July still sees some great prices for tools. If you aren't sure what to buy, check out our online store www.faamintl.com for great deals on tools in July. In general Discounts can vary up to 20%.


2) Home Decor:


As one may have noticed, summer in general and July specifically falls right in the middle of wedding season, which means that anything that can count as a wedding gift is offered on sale. So that means things like table linens, dinnerware, Jewelry, outdoor Patio Furniture and other decorative items are on sale this month.


At FAAM we offer a wide variety of these collections and as you may have guessed, there is  a discount offer on most of these items.


3) PC Games:


PC gamers are probably familiar with summer as the best time to buy, when online sales (like the Steam Summer Sale) are at their peak. Remember, though—Steam doesn't always have the lowest prices, so shop around. If you play console games, the best you can do is usually wait until your desired games go on sale, usually a few months after they've been released.


4) Bikes & Camping Equipment


With the summer travel season half done, outdoor gear goes on sale. Buy now and you'll get some enjoyment out of it before you have to pack it away for the winter. checkout our Sports and Fitness section at FAAM International and you will not be disappointed.


5) Small Electronics: 
Electronics is a hot item which is on Sale in July. Big-box retailers will be celebrating major sales later this month, and since Christmas in July has become such a major retail event, they’ll be working hard at being as competitive as possible. As a result, small electronics like speakers, cameras, and more will be on deep discount in this month.


Although the list can go on an on, but the intent is not to overwhelm you with items  on sale. For a much bigger collection of  items on sale. Visit our online store www.faamintl.com.


Don't forget to register as that is the key to staying up to date with all the promotions and sales and you can get discount coupons from time to time to benefit from.


by


FAAM International
www.faamintl.com