Amazon’s dominance as the primary destination for online shoppers is well-documented, with 63 percent of Gen Z consumers heading to the marketplace to complete a clothing purchase. While Amazon’s influence over the retail industry continues to grow, CPC Strategy, now part of Elite SEM, has tracked how shopper behavior on the Marketplace is evolving. The 2019 Amazon Consumer Shopping Study found that while many consumers visit Amazon with a specific purchase in mind, a significant majority of shoppers now use Amazon to discover new products and brands across a range of categories.
“Brands looking to attract the up-and-coming generation of shoppers should look to Amazon for guidance,” said Rick Backus, CEO and co-founder of CPC Strategy, now part of Elite SEM. “In a shocking discovery, we learned that 75 percent of Amazon shoppers look to the Marketplace for new product and brand discovery, a 25 percent increase since 2017. Brands can’t ignore the fact that their customers are most likely shopping on Amazon, and businesses are just now beginning to realize that Amazon can be leveraged as a Demand Generation platform.”
While an increasing number of shoppers are turning to Amazon to discover new brands and products, an additional data point found that 52.2 percent of shoppers are more willing to buy a brand they’re not familiar with on Amazon than they would be at any other store.
Now in its third year, CPC Strategy’s Amazon Consumer Study tracks shopping habits on the Marketplace by asking 2,000 shoppers how much time they spend browsing on the site and how much money they spend on Amazon each month, which devices they use to shop, which categories they purchase most frequently, and what drives their buying decisions.
Other key findings of the report:
- 53 percent of Amazon shoppers spend more than $50 per month, which more than doubles for Prime members.
- Electronics, Beauty, and Casual Clothing are top categories. Items most frequently purchased across age and gender include “Electronics, Computers & Office” (35 percent), followed by “Beauty & Health” (14.7 percent), and “Clothing, Shoes, Jewelry, & Watches (14.4 percent), with millennials in particular taking a real interest in Amazon’s Prime Pantry, suggesting an opportunity for CPG companies to tap into this market.
- 41 percent rank price as the most important factor in making a purchase. Shoppers value a bargain more than product reviews, product descriptions, or free shipping.
- 77 percent of shoppers did not make a purchase on Amazon on Black Friday. This speaks to Amazon’s push to make major shopping holidays more of a week-long or month-long event, instead of just one day.
As marketers design their promotional strategies, understanding the behavior of this generation of shopper should influence brands’ strategies, especially those with new product offerings. Undoubtedly, brands need to pay attention to these ecommerce trends moving forward.