Deloitte Consulting: Consumers are more accurate in offline shopping, and retailers learn to promote online

November 21, 2011, Technology has changed people's shopping behavior in physical stores. Mobile phones, barcode scanning, and price comparison shopping websites have made physical store shoppers more "prepared" than ever before. A new study released by Deloitte Consulting shows that 9 out of 10 shoppers know what they want to buy before they arrive at the store, and more than 83% of them have already considered what brand they want to buy.

In today's Christmas shopping season, brick-and-mortar shoppers are more attentive than ever to online deals. The Deloitte study shows that 80% of shoppers surveyed said they did online research and had a predetermined price point for an item before entering the store, and also calculated how much money they would save. In addition, two-thirds of consumers purchased products when they knew they would be discounted.

75% of respondents believe they are savvier when it comes to shopping than they were a year ago, and 86% believe they are becoming more “precise” when buying things.

All of this means that retailers need to consider online campaigns to educate shoppers via mobile and web platforms. Clearly, Google, eBay and even startups like ShopKick are gearing up to influence shoppers’ purchases in-store as well as online and mobile.