Despite the tremendous increase in researching and buying products online, many apparel and footwear customers still often like to patronize physical stores — and for research, not just buying.

As reported by eMarketer:

“Consumers may be happy to research online, but brick-and-mortar stores often still win out when it comes time to make a purchase. Though price and convenience drive millions to buy online each year, seeing and touching products in real life tilts the scales toward stores, according to research from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).”

“When asked where they most preferred to research clothing and footwear purchases, U.S. Internet users were most likely to select stores, though online was nearly as popular (44%, vs. 47%). Catalogs and TV shopping accounted for the remainder of research preferences. But digital’s popularity dropped 18 percentage points when purchasing time rolled around, with only about a quarter of Internet users preferring to actually buy clothes and shoes on the Web. Meanwhile, stores climbed more than 20 points to be the preferred purchase channel for 68% of internet users.

Click the image to read more — and to see people’s shopping behavior for toys, as well.

 

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