Jungle Scout, a platform for selling on Amazon, released its second quarter “Consumer Trends Report” that showed shoppers now consider fast and free shipping essential.
The study of 1,000 U.S. consumers revealed that 80 percent expect free shipping when ordering a certain dollar amount of products while 66 percent expect free shipping for all online orders.
In addition, 91 percent said they expect to receive an online order within a week and 9 percent want it the same day. Plus, 70 percent stated they would be upset if an order didn’t arrive on time.
While consumers still favor shopping on Amazon for most products, Walmart edges out Amazon in the grocery category because they like the site’s prices and are familiar with its products, the report said.
Price-sensitive consumers are embracing the online secondhand market, but are doing fewer of the home-improvement projects that caught on over the past 16 months, with 27 percent of consumers saying they are looking for pre-owned products when they shop online while 44 percent have bought or sold pre-owned items over the last year.
“Expectations around online shopping have shifted as more consumers have embraced online purchasing,” Greg Mercer, founder and CEO of Jungle Scout, said. “As product reviews, low prices and fast shipping with easy returns become more important for consumers, it’s important that e-commerce businesses are able to adapt to these changes, making marketplaces like Amazon and Walmart even more desirable.”
The report’s data showed that 32 percent of consumers said their overall spending decreased in early 2021, 43 percent said it stayed the same and 26 percent said it increased. But 39 percent said their online spending increased and 37 percent noted that their Amazon spending increased.
Amazon leads online shopping, with 71 percent of consumers saying they’ve shopped there in recent months, followed by 39 percent shopping on Walmart.com, 20 percent on Target.com and 19 percent on eBay.com. Jungle Scout has documented a continued decline when it comes to consumers saying they’re shopping in store at certain large retailers, such as Best Buy, Kohl’s, and Home Depot.
More than 20 percent of consumers are buying less clothing and fewer electronics and home items.