Survey: In-store shopping remains popular, but mobile devices play key role

More than a third (35%) of shoppers say they shop in-store because they don’t want to wait for online orders in the mail.

Despite the growing presence of e-commerce, in-store shopping is still popular for a large number of American consumers.

According to logistics firm Ryder System’s 10th annual e-commerce consumer survey, titled “The Influence of Omnichannel Excellence on Consumer Behavior,” 61% of respondents report shopping in-store specifically because they enjoy the experience, which includes trying items on, comparing products and more. This figure is up 21% compared to last year’s study.

Additionally, more than a third (35%) say they shop in-store because they don’t want to wait for online orders in the mail (+4%), and 15% say they shop in-store to avoid package theft (+8%).

When purchasing apparel and cosmetics products, Ryder System’s found that shoppers are more inclined to make purchases in a physical location than they were last year. Forty-one percent of shoppers who buy cosmetics say they prefer to do so either in a brand’s physical retail location or a department/convenience store (+9%). More than half (54%) prefer to buy clothing in those same brick-and-mortar locations (+9%).

More than half (55%) of shoppers (+15%) now say they would rather return online purchases in-store, which is the first time since early 2020 the preference to buy online, return in-store has outweighed returning via mail. Forty percent of shoppers say they often make additional purchases when picking up or returning online purchases in-store (+2%).