Young consumers shop in stores and online

A recent study from Saatchi & Saatchi found young consumers in the U.K. are shopping online in large numbers but continue to frequent physical stores as well, illustrating the importance of launching multichannel offerings.

The study showed 77 percent of U.K. consumers between 16 and 29 love to shop in physical stores, and 78 percent visited a local high street store in the week before taking the survey. However, in the last three years, the number of customers visiting high street stores has dropped 10 percent, as many consumers now prefer to purchase online. About 47 percent of young consumers said they have little personal connection with physical stores, making it easier for them to purchase online at their convenience.

As the population of online consumers continues to grow, companies are launching digital applications to help shoppers conduct online purchasing more efficiently. For example, the Slingshot app was recently launched in the U.K. to help shoppers remember what items they saw online and wanted to purchase in the future.

Shoppers can use Slingshot to add products to online shopping baskets from a variety of online stores. Rather than specifically searching websites for individual items, pieces can be added to the list while they are stumbled upon throughout the day.