Forrester: 'Connected Traditionalists' Show Most Growth Potential
by Sarah Mahoney, Tuesday, August 28, 2012 11:11 AM
Looks like retailers should spend a little less
time thinking about those avid, tablet-frenzied mobile shoppers, and
more time focusing on slightly more mainstream targets.
A
new report from Forrester, based on 4,500 adults, delineates device use
among three types of shoppers: “Super Buyers,” those who are highly
connected and fiercely shopping off
both tablets and phones, and account for 17% of the population;
“Connected Traditionalists” who make up about 25% of the population and
do most of their shopping either by computer or in
physical stores; and plain old Traditionalists, the 59% who do most of
their shopping in stores.
Of the three, the report
finds, Connected Traditionalists offer the greatest
room for growth. “The relative size of this segment will grow over time
and steal share from Traditionalist shoppers as the uptake of
smartphones and tablets continues to expand to the general
population, and digital channels become a ubiquitous part of the
shopping process,” writes Gina Sverdlov, consumer insights analyst.
“They are also the most receptive to advertising, and
most likely to share positive shopping experiences with others.”
Turns
out shopping preferences have little to do with actual connectivity.
For example, Traditionalists, who
do shop online, are the group most likely to own a computer or a laptop.
And Connected Traditionalists are virtually just as likely as Super
Buyers to have tablets and smartphones. Instead, it has to
do with consumer preferences, brand loyalties and habits.
Super
Buyers, for example, may be the youngest (with an average age of 34 and
average income of $88,900) and the most
tech-focused (33% own a tablet, and 30% have an Internet-connected TV) ,
but they are also the most likely to shop via such old-school channels
as print catalogs and infomercials. And, while a quarter
of the tablet owners say they carry them everywhere, they are also the
group most likely to be making impulse buys in physical stores. (Some
22% say they are doing so more than they did a year ago,
compared with just 3% of the other two groups.) They are more brand
loyal, and less price sensitive.
The Connected
Traditionalist, the most affluent with a household income of
$93,000, is just as likely to own a tablet or smartphone. But “only 13%
say it’s likely that they will shop using the mobile Internet in the
next three to six months, compared with 40% of
Super Buyers; just 22% say it’s likely they will shop on their tablet on
a website, compared with 42% of Super Buyers,” the report says.
Bonus:
They are the
group least likely to hate marketers’ ads, with just 47% describing ads
as annoying and intrusive, compared to more than 50% of other two groups
Traditionalists
are the oldest
group, with an average age of 49, and the least affluent, with a
household income of $72,500. While they are the least likely to shop on a
portable device, even if they own one,
“about half
say they are likely to buy something online on a computer in the next
three to six months.” And when they do, they are the most likely to
expect a seamless
experience between store and online shopping.
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