Online shopping is more popular than ever – and its popularity is only going to continue increasing. Forrester estimates that by the year 2020, online sales in the United States alone will hit $523 billion and the number of people browsing online will be 270 million. One big reason for this tremendous growth are mobile devices that make it quick and easy for consumers to shop online anytime, anywhere.

As online shopping continues to head towards outpacing traditional brick-and-mortar retail, let’s step back and take a closer look at some of the key factors that drive eCommerce’s popularity. Here are some questions we’ll answer:

  • Which industries are leading the pack in digital domination?
  • What features do online shoppers love the most?
  • Why do shoppers abandon their online shopping carts before checking out?
  • What can online retailers do to help prevent shopping cart abandonment?

Worldpay teamed up with Socratic Technologies to conduct two surveys to learn more about online shopping behavior. Read on for the results.

Online shopping is nearly ubiquitous

Ninety-two percent of consumers across all age groups have shopped online within the past 12 months.

Amazon and Overstock are the most popular online retailers

The most popular online retailers continue to be major e-tailers like Amazon and Overstock; 79 percent of those surveyed have made purchases on those types of sites. Mass merchants like Target and Walmart are also popular, with 41 percent having shopped on their sites. The websites of department stores like Macy’s and Nordstrom are popular virtual shopping destinations for 32 percent of those surveyed. Millennials and Gen Xers are more likely to make online purchases from mass merchants.

Less popular online retailers

This study found that online home furnishings merchants garnered sales from just 7 percent of respondents, although this number may be turning around soon. Other retailer types with low online shopping rates include sporting goods (11 percent) and office supplies (12 percent).

Online checkout has to be easy

When shopping online, 77 percent of consumers say that an easy checkout experience is the most important factor. Automatic gift card redemption is next most important (72 percent), followed by previous purchase history (51 percent).

Personalized recommendations not important to shoppers

Perhaps surprising to retailers is the survey finding that individual recommendations are the least important factor when shopping online, with only 26 percent of respondents finding them important. The ability to order online and then return in-store was important to only 29 percent of consumers surveyed.

Unsurprisingly, useful features will be used

Not surprisingly, the most important features are also the most commonly used. Here’s how the top features break down:

  • Respondents use easy checkout 74% of the time
  • Respondents use automatic gift card redemption 72% of the time
  • Respondents use previous purchase history 68% of the time

It’s curious that there are some discrepancies in the middle of the scale. For example, only 51 percent of respondents value previous purchase history when shopping online. At the same time, 68 percent report using this feature. Along the same lines, only 46 percent of respondents say that wish lists/save-for-later lists are a valuable feature but 64 percent are using this feature.

Satisfaction with online shopping is generally high

Across all features – easy checkout, live help, new customer discounts, etc. – consumers are overwhelmingly satisfied. From the high end with easy checkout at a 98 percent satisfaction level, to personalized recommendations at 88 percent, satisfaction with the array of online shopping features is generally high.

High shipping costs contribute to abandoning shopping carts

The #1 reason for abandoning items in their online shopping cart is high shipping costs, say 74 percent of respondents. The next highest reason is because the shopper found a better price elsewhere, with 52 percent of respondents saying they’ve done this.

In good news for retailers, safety and security concerns rated low on shoppers’ reasons for abandoning their shopping cart. Only 20 percent of shoppers abandoned items because they didn’t trust the security of the eCommerce site. And only another 17 percent said they’ve abandoned their cart because they didn’t trust the online retailer.

How men and women shop differently online

When it comes to shopping online, women are more likely to purchase from mass merchants, department stores and apparel shops than men. Perhaps not surprisingly, men are more likely to purchase from electronics retailers and sporting goods retailers online.

It’s worth noting that women are more likely to pay attention to other shoppers’ reviews than men; 44 percent of women say they’re less likely to make an online purchase when they’ve seen a bad review, while only 33 percent of men reported this.

Results are based on two separate surveys conducted over two months (November and December 2016).

Worldpay research, https://www.vantiv.com/vantage-point-enterprise/shoptalk-onward-upward-online