Does the power really lie with the consumer? Shopper Discounts and Rewards explores

the growth of online sales

A report released by John Lewis last year, entitled the ‘How we Shop, Live and Look Report 2013’ demonstrates the true power of eCommerce by revealing that 30% of all sales come from online shopping.

The report also demonstrates how much we have come to value the flexibility that online shopping can afford us, with 40% of its online orders being collected in store through John Lewis’s click-and-collect service.

the North/South divide

The report offers further insight into shopper behaviour in different parts of the country.

Interesting facts include: Welsh shoppers are 19% more likely to buy red underwear and sales of shape and control underwear are 35% higher in Scotland. Shoppers from different regions of the UK are also using eCommerce differently. It seems that online shopping is more popular around the London region, which includes well-heeled areas such as St Albans and the SW London postcode. However, a greater proportion of shoppers from northern cities are still travelling to the high street to shop.

mCommerce is becoming increasingly popular

John Lewis’s data shows that mCommerce is becoming an increasingly desirable method of shopping. According to the results, 40% of all digital traffic to the John Lewis website comes from mobile devices such as the smartphone, the tablet and the hybrid ‘phablet’. Research shows that we are shopping on our smartphones in the morning after our alarm clocks go off and using our tablets to browse online shops in the evening.

what are we buying?

More fascinating insights from John Lewis’s report reveal what we are buying. The white Egyptian cotton towel is the product most purchased using mCommerce. Whilst sales of high-technology kitchen equipment and 80-inch televisions are climbing dramatically, and menswear sales have risen by 10%. The three most searched terms on the John Lewis website are: “Ted Baker”, “iPad” and “Cath Kidston”. The latter term can be explained by a growing trend among young women to adopt a more old-fashioned look.

This thought-provoking report by John Lewis shows us just how much our shopping behaviours are adapting and evolving with new technology. We will probably see even more change as the devices we use become increasingly advanced.

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