40% of Global Consumers Now Fit the Click-and-Mortar™ Shopper Profile

The days of consumers mentally segregating in-store shopping from its online counterpart are over. 

Nowadays, as PYMNTS Intelligence’s “2024 Global Digital Shopping Index: The Rise of the Click-and-Mortar Shopper and What It Means for Merchants” report makes clear, consumers worldwide simply think in terms of “shopping.” Physical stores are just an extension of that experience.  

The new report was commissioned by Visa Acceptance Solutions and draws on insights from a survey of 13,904 consumers and 3,512 merchants across seven countries as well as years of historical data to identify how merchants can fully leverage the modern digital shopping experience. 

One of its key findings is the advent of the Click-and-Mortar shopper, a consumer who expects the same digital experience when shopping in a store as they encounter online. This new breed — which represents 4 in 10 consumers — constitutes the fastest growing segment of shoppers in the world.

Forty-five percent of millennials fit the Click-and-Mortar persona. So do 57% of parents with children at home. And, perhaps not surprisingly, the portion of Gen Z consumers who qualify as Click-and-Mortar shoppers is double that of baby boomers and seniors. 

Given these high percentages, it’s essential that retailers cater to Click-and-Mortar shoppers — and offer the digital conveniences these shoppers expect. After all, the customer is always right, right?  

But, as the figure below illustrates, there are conveniences that consumers are clamoring for that, in some cases, are simply not on the menu. And for many merchants, there are no plans to implement them.  

The average retailer in the U.S. and Saudi Arabia has its bases covered. These retailers offer, or plan to offer, voice-assisted shopping, digital profiles, buy now, pay later (BNPL), price matching, mobile-aided shopping and online returns. 

Retailers in the United Arab Emirates and the U.K. aren’t far behind. (But as PYMNTS Intelligence reported this week in a special U.K. edition of 2024 Global Digital Shopping Index, more than one-third of U.K. consumers say they had trouble finding the digital shopping features they wanted most.) Retailers in Brazil and Mexico may be at the greatest disadvantage in that merchants in both countries only plan to deliver on two of the most coveted features. 

There are likely cultural, technological and economic reasons that prevent retailers in some regions from offering all the digital features local shoppers want. But the yellow “warning” icons in the chart are there for a reason: Merchants failing to meet the needs of their local Click-and-Mortar shoppers do so at their own peril. 

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