Salesforce Shopping Index: Shopper Spend Up, Computer Order Share Drops

If a shopper visits a web site and doesn’t buy anything, was she even there? Salesforce’s Q3 Shopping Index points to probably not.

According to the solution provider’s analytics, shopper engagement is increasingly necessary to accomplish conversions across channels and devices. During the third quarter this year, shopper spend was up 15 percent year-over-year. “Shoppers were incentivized to purchase with a seven percent increase in merchandise discount rates to an average rate of 22 percent — the highest rate ever recorded by the Shopping Index. General apparel sites led this trend with average discounts of 23 percent, a 12 percent increase over last year,” the report said.

Salesforce reviews shopping activity on 722 digital commerce sites in 37 country, reflecting behavior of 500 million shoppers and one billion web site visits.

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Unsurprisingly, the research found that mobile continues to be a disruptive force — 58 percent of all third-quarter traffic stemmed from mobile phones. What’s more, computer order share is on the way to dropping below 50 percent, the report noted. According to the index, over the last two years orders placed on desktops has fallen 21 percent.

Free shipping is also on the rise. Sixty-nine percent — the highest since the fourth quarter of 2016 — of web sites included in the analysis offered the service, likely to compete with Amazon. But while free shipping and discounts are increasing, product assortment growth is slowing, suggesting that consumers are consistently choosing the purchase of experiences rather than material items.

As technology improves to deliver seamless purchasing experiences on mobile, retailers and brands are charged with delivering impactful (read: engaging) shopping journeys upon first swipe, click, or tap. Shoppers are spending less time for visit durations, likely due to improved platforms and operating systems. But this calls for well-honed, frictionless research and product-discovery tools.

Deploying social campaigns that not only build intrigue and highlight new product, discounts and loyalty programs will contribute to moving the needle in revenue growth — especially with Millennial shoppers.

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