As retail moves almost exclusively online given the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, how are shopper behaviors changing?

Since COVID-19 appeared, we’ve seen a pretty steady increase in the number of daily transactions through organic channels.

It seems that shoppers are buying more often when they come in through these non-paid channels.

There are likely a couple of things driving this. One could be that shoppers are actively looking for what they know they want to buy, rather than being enticed by pull advertisements. This would make sense in these uncertain times when consumers are spending more conservatively. Another factor could be that products in high demand are out of stock everywhere, driving people to actively search for them via new channels.

Let’s drill into a few specific verticals to see the key takeaways.

Apparel & accessories: Display drives traffic but not transactions

When we look at apparels and accessories, we can see that display is the second highest traffic generator, but there are still more transactions coming from organic search. While a display ad might entice shoppers enough to take a closer look, it doesn’t seem like it’s enough to drive transactions during these uncertain times.

It makes sense with unemployment at an all-time high and job security at an all-time low that people are not comfortable spending money on items they didn’t intend to buy.

Organic search on the other hand indicates some level of intent to buy as these shoppers are actively searching for a particular product. We can see that reflected in the data with organic search being the second-highest channel for driving transactions.

 
Crafts: Shoppers transacting more

We can see shoppers are buying crafts more often as they (and their kids!) are stuck at home without much to do. Again the majority of those transactions are happening through organic search as shoppers are actively looking to buy these products. For verticals like this, where shoppers are actively looking to buy, it makes sense to invest in paid search over display. You don’t have to go out and find these shoppers because they’re actively looking for the products you sell, but you want to be sure to be a top result in paid search so that you don’t lose them to your competitors.

Sports & Fitness: Paid search important to beat out competitors

In sports and fitness, we’re actually seeing paid search beat out the organic channels in terms of daily transactions. Again, these shoppers are actively searching for these products so retailers don’t have to pull in shoppers through display ads. But because it’s such a competitive vertical, we’re seeing that paid search is an important channel to beat out competitors.

Adapting to changing consumer behavior

I hope this data provides some valuable insight into how shoppers are behaving through different channels and where it makes most sense for retailers to invest time and effort. Consumer behavior is constantly shifting during these unprecedented times and it’s critical that retailers and brands adapt to these changes quickly and efficiently.

A big question is, will the current shift have a lasting hold following the pandemic? We are keen to see what retailers will take away from this and what might stick. Certainly, a lot of retailers may be making adaptations that will shift their e-commerce strategy in a permanent way.

Drew Lau is vice president of product at Mobify.