Understanding how Millennial shoppers decide what to buy:uddigitally connected unseen journeys

摘要

The shopper journey can cross a number of channels leading up to the point of a possible purchase, whichudmay be unseen by the retailer or brand for the targeted purchase. The purpose of this paper is to gain audgreater understanding of the decision making and purchase intention activity for online Millennial shoppersudin deciding what fashion garments to buy in the digital retail environment. The paper also investigates theuduse of technology and social media involvement in the shopper journey leading up to the point of purchase.ududIn line with other studies that investigated online shopper behaviour (Balabanis and Reynolds, 2001; Pavlouudet al, 2007) we have undertaken an exploratory investigation using an online survey conducted withudrespondents sourced through using Survey Monkey Audience. The survey was conducted with over 580udrespondents (49.7% female and 50.3% male) between 16 and 34 years old living in England.ududThe findings highlight a picture of shoppers going on very different shopper journeys with different lengths,udinfluenced by different touch points and using different media and devices. Each customer has their ownudindividual experience and expectation. They can move through extremely diverse, long and complicatedudjourneys in the buying process before they purchase a product. Most striking is their willingness to reach outudand be influenced by other people beyond the control of any retailer – using platforms that are notudnecessarily specifically related with any retailer. Shoppers can undertake numerous activities before theyudmake their final purchase decision, seeking content from different retailers, asking for social validation ofudtheir decision from their social networks both online and offline which is often out of sight of the retailer orudbrand.ududThe findings show how retailers and brands can understand the shopper decision journey and theirudbehaviours across all the devices and channels that are used. Moreover, for some or part of the digitaludjourney the shopper can often be unseen by the retailer or brand.ududConsumers actively seek out novelty, knowledge and inspiration but shoppers employ a variety ofudinteractions over a much greater period of time to arrive at the moment of purchase. This research providesudan insight into the range of complex views and positions held by each individual to get a much moreudcomplete picture of where shoppers are looking to buy and what are their interests.