OREANDA-NEWS. September 22, 2015. “Online shopping is here to stay and increasingly occurring across a variety of channels,” writes Chain Store Age. “According to the sixth annual Shopping Experience Study of more than 5,000 consumers by Cognizant, 64% of respondents said they buy online at least once a month, and 13% make weekly purchases.” Excerpts:

“Product selection, availability, price, and ease of checkout are just a few of the reasons consumers value shopping online. And they are shopping online using far more tools than a PC. Importantly, 25% of shoppers say they use their mobile devices to compare prices “most of the time” when shopping. And 8% of shoppers actually prefer using their mobile devices over their desktops for online shopping.

Fifty-five percent of shoppers reported using their smartphones to comparison shop. Thirty percent of shoppers use buy online pickup in store (BOPIS) at least once per month. Interestingly, 6% do it once per week or more. While 6% may seem low, 65% of shoppers who use BOPIS end up purchasing additional products when they pick up their items in the store.

Eighty percent of shoppers are members of at least one retailer loyalty program, and 32% of shoppers consider loyalty a top three reason for not making a purchase from the lowest price retailer. Almost half (49%) of shoppers are likely to promote retailers on their social media networks to earn more rewards.

Retailers also need to be aware of consumer concerns about technology security. For example, 26% of shoppers say security of personal information is a top three factor when making a purchase, ahead of availability of information and checkout and return policies when shopping online.

Asked differently, 68% of shoppers are somewhat to extremely concerned about the security of their payment methods. In fact, 80% of shoppers said they have refrained from shopping at specific retailers because of credit/debit card security concerns.

In addition, shoppers expect retailers to be proactive and transparent about security and data breaches. Seven in 10 (71%) feel it is either very important or extremely important for a retailer to communicate with customers on what steps they are taking to protect customers’ credit/debit card information.”