- 6 in 10 would consider paying more than usual for a product to support a small business
- 81% have become more inclined to purchase from small businesses in the past year
- 63% admit that they make most purchases between the 1st and 5th days of the month
- 55% say that sponsored posts encourage them to make purchases
The face of online shopping has changed drastically in the past year, and so have our spending habits. Working from home, an influencer influx, and increased savings are just of few of the factors that have altered our shopping preferences – but what impact has this really had?
Interested in this, Uswitch.com conducted a survey among 4,380 frequent online shoppers to discover the reality of online shopping in 2021.
Small business appreciation
After asking about the publics approach towards small businesses, Uswitch found that 45% have become ‘very likely’ to shop from small businesses within the past year – a further 36% have become ‘likely’ and 10% are ‘neither more likely nor unlikely’.
It was also reported that almost 7 in 10 (68%) actively go out of their way to shop from smaller businesses.
Interestingly, the respondents were also asked whether they would pay more than usual for a product in support of a small business and 61% said yes! Additionally, 54% admit to favoring smaller over bigger businesses.
Online spending habits
Uswitch asked shoppers if they often regret their spending habits by the end of the month and almost 4 in 5 (79%) said yes. Following on from this, most shoppers (63%) make the majority of their purchases between the 1st and 5th days of the month, with the 11th to the 15th being the second most common (17%).
Participants report that lockdown has increased their online spending; 36% said it has increased their spending ‘a great deal’, 28% said ‘a lot’, 18% said ‘a little’ and 9% said that lockdown has not increased their spending at all.
Of those who state lockdown has increased their monthly spending, it was found that the average Brit has spent £169 more than usual each month. With unplanned impulse buys costing £102 per month, on average.
Unsurprisingly, most people prefer to make purchases online rather than going in store (64%).
The impact of online trends
Uswitch discovered that 61% of people base their purchases on current trends, with TikTok providing the most inspiration. After asking respondents which platform is their go-to for finding shopping trends, 41% said TikTok is their first port of call. Instagram places second (27%), followed by Pinterest (18%).
It seems that TikTokers also take the lead for innovation, as 37% take inspiration from TikTok influencers with just 25% preferring Instagram’s influencers. Interestingly, only 11% use their friends to find new shopping trends and just 6% choose musicians.
Alongside social media influencers come #ads and sponsored posts. They’re often hard to miss and sometimes muster complaints from followers, but they do seem to work as 55% admit that sponsored posts encourage them to make a purchase.
Followers are frequently bombarded with images of luxuries that are out of their budget; Uswitch found that sports cars, jewellery, holidays, a yacht and designer handbags are the five items people would buy if money were no obstacle.
