A survey of American consumers during the peak shopping season! Amazon has become the preferred shopping platform for 80% of consumers!

According to a study of 1,600 U.S. consumers by digital intelligence company FullStory, 80% of respondents will buy holiday gifts on Amazon, followed by the retailer's own website (50%) and Google (36%).

Just over one in ten consumers surveyed would buy a gift on Facebook (12%) or Instagram (10%), but nearly one in five (18%) would buy a gift on Etsy.

The survey also showed that consumers’ satisfaction with online shopping is generally much higher than that with physical shopping, with 88% of consumers saying that their online shopping experience is as good or better than before the pandemic. Nearly one-third (32%) of consumers said that their online shopping experience has improved, while only 12% said that it has become worse.

Other findings from the survey include:

Overall, 31% of consumers plan to shop more online this holiday season than in 2020. However, 3 in 10 respondents said website and shopping cart glitches are more frustrating during peak season than at other times of the year.

More than half of respondents (55%) would not shop again at a retailer that provided a poor shopping experience, with the worst experiences cited by consumers as the inability to complete a transaction in the shopping cart (37%) or accept a gift code (36%), and pages failing to load, timing out or experiencing website errors (34%).

Consumers want retailers to show them similar items that are in stock (66%), mark out-of-stock items before adding them to cart (60%), notify them when items are available again (51%), and instantly remove those items from promotions and search results (43%).

The survey also looked at consumer attitudes toward mobile shopping, finding that:

A third (34%) of respondents said mobile was their primary online shopping channel, and 58% said they did at least half of their online shopping on their phone, but 46% said they experienced fewer problems using a computer versus a phone.

“Consumers are relying on online shopping more than ever during peak season, but the combination of high expectations and site performance issues can lead to retailers losing opportunities, product shortages and shipping delays,” FullStory noted. “As a result, the retailers that emerge as winners are those who can quickly learn, adapt and improve the online experience to meet changing conditions and behaviors.”

Editor ✎ Xiao Zhu/

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