Clothing and Shoe Retail:
The Buying Preferences of
In-Store vs. Online Consumers
September 2014 Insight Report
About this Insight Report
• CivicScience developed this report using our InsightStore™ solution – an online research
platform that mines real-time consumer opinions and custom research responses from over
27 million+ anonymous respondent profiles (and growing daily).
• This report highlights what people care most about when shopping for clothing or shoes in
stores and online. CivicScience’s capabilities allow us to go deeper than just basic
demographics, providing a rich profile of these buyer segments.
• The data for this report was collected August 5 - September 3, 2014.
• An overview of the methodology is available at the end of this report.
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Topline Results
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Topline Results: In-Store Buyers
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• A total of 4,572 responses were collected and weighted according to the U.S. Census for gender and age, 13 and older.
• When buying clothing or shoes in a store, people value being able to see or touch the product the most, followed by the act of browsing and taking home the purchase that day.
5%
5%
6%
13%
15%
56%
I don't buy these products instores
Ease of returns
Help from sales associate/service
Taking home purchase that day
Act of browsing
Seeing/touching the product
When buying clothing or shoes in a store, what matters most?
> All respondents> Weighted according to U.S. Census figures for gender and age, 13 and older
Margin+/- 2 4,572 responses from 8/05/2014 to 9/03/2014
Generated by CivicScience®
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Topline Results: Online Buyers
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• A total of 4,508 responses were collected and weighted according to the U.S. Census for gender and age, 13 and older.
• When buying clothing or shoes online, people value the convenience, followed by variety / selection.• 34% of consumers do not buy clothing or shoes online.
34%
3%
4%
5%
7%
7%
8%
15%
16%
I don't buy these products online
No pressure sales
No crowds
Access to consumer reviews
Ease of returns
Favorable shipping terms
Ease of price comparisons
Variety/selection
Convenience
When buying clothing or shoes online, what matters most?
> All respondents> Weighted according to U.S. Census figures for gender and age, 13 and older
Margin+/- 2 4,508 responses from 8/05/2014 to 9/03/2014Note, the reported percentages do not sum to 100 due to rounding.
Generated by CivicScience®
In-Store Consumers Online Consumers
High-Level Comparison of In-Store and Online Clothing and Shoe Buyers
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• 57% have children or grandchildren
• 51% have a secondary degree (associate degree
or higher)
• 52% women vs. 48% men
• 35% closely follows trends and current events in
music
• 31% are influenced most by comments or
recommendations on social media
• 57% own a smartphone
• 39% own a tablet computer
• 64% seek out online reviews before purchases
• 60% are 44 years old and under
• 53% have children or grandchildren
• 56% have a secondary degree (associate degree
or higher)
• 53% women vs. 47% men
• 43% closely follows trends and current events in
music
• 40% are influenced most by comments or
recommendations on social media
• 63% own a smartphone
• 40% own a tablet computer
• 70% seek out online reviews before purchases
• 52% are 44 years old and under
In-Store Clothing and Shoe Buyers
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Demographics of In-Store Clothing and Shoe Buyers
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What matters most when buying clothing or shoes in a store?
Insight
“Seeing/touching the
product”“Act of browsing”
“Taking home
purchase that day”
Gender 50% men vs. 50% women 45% men vs. 55% women 46% men vs. 54% women
Age: 34 and under 36% 43% 37%
Age: 35+ years old 64% 57% 63%
Residential Location 45% suburban, 29% urban 46% suburban, 28% urban 45% suburban, 24% urban
Education Level: graduate/PhD 18% 20% 15%
Income: under $35K 24% 28% 29%
Income: $35K-$125K 61% 56% 53%
Parental Status: parent or
grandparent58% 46% 56%
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Attributes of In-Store Clothing and Shoe Buyers
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What matters most when buying clothing or shoes in a store?
Insight
“Seeing/touching the
product”“Act of browsing”
“Taking home
purchase that day”Always seek out online reviews 19% 30% 23%
Watches local TV news daily 36% 25% 42%
Most influenced by comments/
recommendations on social media32% 37% 26%
Owns a smartphone 56% 62% 67%
Makes decisions quickly and
confidently62% 52% 64%
Researches online, then visits store
to buy the product74% 84% 76%
Gets fashion inspiration from
TV/movies16% 15% 22%
Goes to movies at least once a
month13% 13% 23%
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Summary of Different In-Store Clothing and Shoe Buyers
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• Those who value seeing/touching the product the most (by far the most popular answer option at 56%) are likely to live in the suburbs and be 35+ years old. Gender is evenly split. They are slightly more likely than the other two groups to have a household income of $35K-$125K and to be parents or grandparents. 62% believe they make decisions quickly and confidently.
• People who value the act of browsing are 22% more likely to be women than men. They are more likely than the others to be under 35 years old and slightly more likely to have a graduate or PhD degree. Those who enjoy browsing are at least 30% more likely to always seek out online reviews than the other two groups. They are also very influenced by social media: 37% of browsers are most influenced by comments/ recommendations on social media, rather than TV or internet ads, which is higher than the others.
• People who value taking home their purchase right away are 17% more likely to be women than men, and when compared to the other groups, they are the most likely to have an income under $35K. 56% are parents or grandparents. They are more likely than the other groups to watch local TV news daily, own a smartphone, make decisions quickly and confidently, research online, but buy in store, get their fashion inspiration most from TV/movies, and go to the movies at least once a month more.
Online Clothing and Shoe Buyers
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Demographics of Online Clothing and Shoe Buyers
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What matters most when buying clothing or shoes online?
Insight “Variety/selection” “Convenience”Gender 52% men vs. 48% women 49% men vs. 51% women
Age: 44 and under 65% 46%
Age: 45+ years old 35% 54%
Residential Location 46% suburban, 31% urban 47% suburban, 30% urban
Education Level: graduate/PhD 16% 21%
Income: under $75K 56% 52%
Parental Status: parent or grandparent 45% 61%
Currently employed 58% 64%
Works in a professional/managerial position 27% 36%
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Attributes of Online Clothing and Shoe Buyers
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What matters most when buying clothing or shoes online?
Insight “Variety/selection” “Convenience”Owns a smartphone 70% 60%
Owns an tablet 47% 41%
Active on Facebook 24% 17%
Addicted to digital devices 53% 39%
Brand and price are equally important when
shopping for clothing/accessories40% 52%
Very loyal to favorite brands 42% 39%
Very concerned about consumer privacy 49% 65%
Seeks out online reviews 74% 69%
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Profile of Non-Online Clothing and Shoe Buyers
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Insight
What matters most when buying electronics online?
“I don’t buy these products online”
Gender 54% men vs. 46% women
Age: 45+ years old 62%
Residential Location 42% suburban, 27% urban
Education Level: Graduate/PhD 14%
Income: under $75K 66%
Parental Status: parent or grandparent 63%
Owns a tablet computer 29%
Owns a smartphone 38%
Price is more important than brand when shopping
for clothing/accessories51%
Very loyal to favorite brands 27%
Almost never makes purchases online 61%
Seeks out online reviews 48%
34% of people don’t buy clothing or shoes online. Due to the large percent, we profiled this segment of individuals:
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Summary of Online Clothing and Shoe Buyers
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• People who value variety/selection the most when shopping for clothing and shoes online are slightly more likely to be men, and 65% are 44 years old and under. 31% live in a city and they are slightly more likely than those who value convenience to have an income under $75K. Compared to the convenience group, they are more likely to own a smartphone and tablet, be addicted to their digital devices, and be active on Facebook. They are also slightly more likely to be very brand loyal and likely to seek out online reviews before making purchases.
• Those who value convenience (the most popular answer option at 16%) are slightly more likely than those who value variety/selection to be women who are 45+ year old, are parents or grandparents, and have a graduate or PhD degree. 64% are currently employed and 36% work in a professional/managerial position, which is higher than the variety/selection group. They are more likely to say brand and price are equally important when shopping for clothing and accessories. Consumer privacy is a big concern for this group: they are 33% more likely than people who value variety/selection to be very concerned about privacy.
• Those who don’t buy personal clothing or shoes online are more likely than the other segments to be older and are 17% more likely to be men than women. They are more likely to have a lower income and have a lower ownership rate of digital devices, especially smartphones. Not only does this segment not buy clothing or shoes online, they also don’t do much online shopping in general; 61% almost never make purchases online. They are also price sensitive when it comes to shopping for clothing/accessories. 51% of those who don’t buy online are more concerned about price over brand (vs. 43% who value variety/selection and 38% who value convenience).
Methodology
About the CivicScience Methodology:
CivicScience collects real-time consumer research data via polling applications that run
on hundreds of U.S. publisher websites, cycling through thousands of active questions on
any given day. Respondents answer just for fun and are kept anonymous, allowing for
greatly reduced bias and higher levels of engagement. Using technology, CivicScience
builds deep psychographic profiles of these anonymous respondents over time, providing
valuable consumer sentiment data to the decision makers who care. Automated data
science technology allows clients to rapidly gain robust consumer insight and trending
reports. The CivicScience methodology has been validated by a team of academic
leaders and by independent consulting firms. Responses may be weighted for U.S.
census representativeness for gender and age. CivicScience currently has more than 27
million anonymous consumer profiles and 600 million responses stored, growing daily.
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