Business Notebook: New study tracks online consumer trends

Nearly half of all Americans have shopped for groceries online in the past three months and almost 20% of U.S. consumers say they shop online at least once a day.

Those are two of the findings of a new study released last week in the 2021 Consumer Trends Report published by Jungle Scout, an Amazon research and online marketing platform.

The report was based on a survey conducted over a three-day period in late January and summarized the shopping preferences and buying behaviors of 1,005 U.S. consumers. Anonymous survey participants represented every state, all genders, and ages 18 and older, as well as all employment types and varying income levels.

The Jungle Scout report tracks the types of products consumers are buying, how retail stores and sites are performing, and whether spending is increasing or decreasing online, in stores and on Amazon.

Not surprisingly, the study found online shopping has accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to the study's findings about online grocery shopping and the daily Internet shopping habits of nearly one out of ever five consumers, the study also found:

• More than half of American consumers (56%) are living "paycheck to paycheck," and 48% said they have experienced financial setbacks in the last three months of 2020.
• Nearly a quarter (23%) of Americans received some sort of loan (federal, private, family or student) in the last quarter of 2020 and 27% of survey respondents said they are "extremely reliant" on government stimulus checks.
• Most (almost 75%) consumers say they are becoming more conscientious about where they spend their money (offline and online) and 70% are shopping for less expensive products.
• Nearly three out of every four consumers shopped on Amazon.com at least once in the last quarter of 2020 and most of them have Amazon Prime memberships. Meanwhile, 38% of consumers are Walmart+ members, according to the study.

More details and a link to the complete study may be found at www.junglescout.com/consumer-trends.

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