Marketing Research Individual Research Paper
Andrea Jalaliddin
Howard University
Marketing Research
Professor Philemon Oyewole
April 19, 2022
Phase 1 - Literature Review
In an academic journal review titled “Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Online
Consumer Purchasing Behavior.” The authors in association with The Professorial and Doctoral
Scientific Research Foundation of Huizhou University, conduct research on the effects of the
pandemic on consumers or buyers to shop online. They made some very interesting analysis and
conclusions; most importantly want their research found and how it correlates to purchasing
behaviors. It is important to note that while the presence of online shopping had increased over
the course of the pandemic, it was stated that “The study has its limitations. One limitation is that
the present findings came from the analysis of subjective opinions. The higher the number of
respondents, the more accurate the result can be [62,63], but it may become difficult to process
large data sets.” (2277) However, the conclusions drawn from this studied showed that even with
this and few other constraints, “The pandemic thus stimulated online shoppers to show a
constancy of buying behavior. The correlation analysis revealed an increasingly strong
association between online shopping activity and factors of a reflexive consumer. The
relationship between the investigated factors also showed a tendency to grow stronger.” (2277)
In addition this the journal then mentions.” as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to spread.
Consumer Awareness and Experience increased its influence, as did the Promptness in Decision
Making. Introversion, on the other hand, lost its impact.” (2277) The key takeaway from this
article is that even though we can almost for sure say that online shopping was an obvious drastic
change throughout the pandemic, it is important to note that there are other factors that were lost
which may prompt consumers to change their methods once we revert to an in-person lifestyle
again.
In another article that I reviewed about the impact of the pandemic on online shopping,
McKinsey & Company identified “The great consumer shift: Ten charts that show how US
shopping behavior is changing.” This article specifically analyzes shopping behavior in the U.S.
and helps us realize what consumer’s action and values will be in the future as COVID-19
evolves. For an overall summary of the article, the company identified several key changes that
include flight to online, shock to loyalty, need for hygiene transparency, back to basics and
value, and rise of the homebody economy. Let’s dive in what each of these mean and then we
will draw conclusions. “Flight to online” was the need to shop online due to quarantine rules and
show an increasing growth of online consumers in many different categories. In almost all
categories that were used as a part of this research including some like, groceries, furnishings
and appliances, jewelry, food takeout, etc., there is a ~15-30% growth in consumers who
purchase online for most categories. It was also noted that millennials and high-income earners
are the leading demographic when it comes to online shopping. As far as “shock to loyalty,” this
is the key change that as mentioned in. the journal above that deals with making decisions and
brand loyalty. As mentions in this article, “consumers are switching brands at unprecedented
rates.” Interest enough, this is something that has occurred in my own personal life. I’m and avid
fan of Wal-Mart and this was the grocery that I always shopped at when I was home. While I did
change geographical locations and Walmart seemed to be less prevalent than its competitor
Target, they both were my go-to shopping stores, however, the pandemic forced me not only to
make most of my purchasing decisions online, but also try different grocery stores such as Food
Lion, Giant, and even Whole Foods. I was more inclined to shop for whatever fit my needs at the
time instead of what I was used to. The last key change I will analyze is the rise of the homebody
economy. In the article, this is described as how Americans are spending their time at home. For
example, the pandemic gave people the opportunity to try new things like cooking, playing video
games, working out, watching tv, and even working a job. With these changes and the fear of
going outside and being exposed as well, the best way to alleviate these issues were to make
purchases online. With that, the consumer has no need nor want to leave their home and online
shopping gives them everything they may need. It is imperative to remember that while we have
noticed in an increase in these trends, this study largely saw huge increases in the Gen Z and
millennial consumer segment and differences across the board varied significantly.
Through the use of the database Statista, I was able to find a survey from 2021, during
the midst of the pandemic, over “drivers of online purchase in the U.S..” You can view the chart
below.
A group of 18–64-year-olds in the United Sates was surveyed to see "Which of these do you
consider good reasons to buy an item online?" With 56%, a little of half of the respondents said
that it was because of direct delivery to their home. With the next highest percentage at 48%,
respondents said it was because of more convenient way of shopping. Based on our conclusions
drawn from the last two articles and academic journals, one might say that the pandemic played a
huge role in the answers of the survey. The need for direct delivery to home would be essentially
because stores were closing, quarantine, and the fear of spreading the sickness. In addition to
this, consumers are always looking for convenient ways to shop so based on what was previously
mentioned as well.
According to the World Economic Forum in an article title “The pandemic has changed
consumer behaviour forever – and online shopping looks set to stay,” like the McKinsey &
Company article conclusions, it was noted that due to the pandemic, there a strong shit of
consumers behaviors in relation to online shopping, which promoted and continued to promote
the way we work and live, including shopping from home. The research finds that trends in
relation to online shopping will continue to be prevalent and consistent because many online
buyers enjoy cheaper prices, access to the internet where there are readily available resources on
local shopping options, and more. These conclusions were drawn from a
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) survey of 8,600 people across 22 territories. ("The pandemic has
changed global consumer behaviour forever - and online shopping looks set to stay", 2021)
There are many consistencies in both articles such as stated in this article, “The survey found a
15-30% overall growth in consumers who made purchases online across a broad range of product
categories. Many of the categories see a double-digit percentage growth in online shopping
intent, led by over-the-counter medicines, groceries, household supplies and personal care
products.” A decline in brand loyalty occurred. “In total, 75% of US consumers have tried a new
shopping behaviour and over a third of them (36%) have tried a new product brand.” Some key
takeaways in this article are as mentioned din the article, “consumer shift to digital channels will
remain after the pandemic, customer loyalty has plummeted, with buyers switching brands at
unprecedented rates, [and] the use of smartphones for online shopping has more than doubled
since 2018.” ("The pandemic has changed global consumer behaviour forever - and online
shopping looks set to stay", 2021.)
The last article that I decided to use in my analysis is titled “Online shopping trends
2022; Pandemic-era habits settle in” by Kai Stübane at The Future of Customer Engagement and
Experience, identifies some of the trends that will continue through and throughout the pandemic
era. The article says, “Although the restrictions on brick-and-mortar retail have relaxed and more
people are returning to physical stores, online sales continue to soar.” (Online shopping trends
2022; Pandemic-era habits settle in, 2022) Here are a list of buying behaviors that dramatically
changed and set to stay, omnichannel retail, curbside pickup and BOPIS, personalization, social
commerce, and finally the continued rise of subscription models. Omnichannel retail refers to the
means in which the consumers shops and buys a product. With the return to physical locations
and in-person hopping, retailers found the importance of shoppers finding products online and
being able to pick them up in-store or finding products in-store and being able to buy them
online. BOPIS, which also known as click-and-collect sales, “doubled in 202 in the U.S.
according to eMarketer.” It is estimated and expected that by 2024 “BOPIS double-digit growth
rates.” When it comes to personalization, this means providing each and every consumer with
requirements and expectations they want to see on their shopping journey. This goes back while
in almost every study, it was found that consumers prefer online shopping, what they experience,
what they may want is different. Someone in the U.S. may have different online shopping
attitudes than someone in Brazil or Germany. Regarding social commerce, the article says,
“Social commerce has been steadily growing in recent years but took off in 2020 during
lockdowns. Consumers using social media to make online purchases drove $475 billion in
revenue two years ago. Statista estimates social commerce will reach about 3 trillion dollars by
2028.” Many people have been at home enjoying more time to do other things like browsing on
social media which allows for companies to utilize social media advertising for products and
services and influences consumers to buy products from those companies. Lastly, the article talks
about subscription models loke Blue Apron and Dollar Shave Club. In my own experiences I
have appreciated options kike this where I know I need these items, but I don’t feel like going to
the store or ordering every month. Subscription models prove a more convenient way to shop to
get convenience items like razors, food, makeup, etc.
Phase 2 – Google Analytics Analysis
Analysis 1
During March 2021, the number of active users on “1 Day” was 2,650. The number of
active users on “7 Day” during March 2021 was 14,397. The number of active users on “14 Day”
during March 2021 was 28,885. The number of active users on “28 Day” during March 2021 was
55,277. The ratio of 1 Day Active Users to 28 Day Active Users, expressed as a percentage, is
4.79%. As mentioned in the instructions, ecommerce sites like GMS Company, “where usage is
less frequent but of higher monetary value, the ratio is typically lower than 10%,” which is
exactly what is expected for the ratio in this case. Based on the data presented above, you can tell
from this, and the graphs shown on the page that there was a constant increase of active users
from “1 Day” to “28 Day.”
When comparing the data sets of 1 Day Active Users in the first quarter of 2021 and the first
quarter of 2020, one can see that GMS Company had a optimistic growth within the two
different frames of time. Compared to the first quarter of 2021, 1 Day Active users saw in an
increase of 60.41% than in the first quarter of 2020. For 7 Day Active Users within the same
time frame, there was an increase of 51.84%, a 67.58% increase for 14 Day Active Users, and
47.51% for 28 Day Active Users. Based on this data, one can see that in almost every category,
there was just about a 50% increase in active users. The conclusions that can be drawn from this
is that more users are visiting the website and staying meaning the marketing efforts have not
only been efficient and effective, but also may indicate that the campaign is successful.
Graph #1 – Compare Graphs for 1 Day Active Users to 28 Day Active Users
Graph #2 - 1 Day Active Users to 28 Day Active Users (2021 vs. 2020)
Analysis 2
GMS wants to focus its efforts on the younger users (18-24 and 25-34) during the holiday
seasons of 2020 and 2019. Compared to 2019, the number of young users has increased a little
during the shopping season of 2020. When looking at the age ranges of 18-24, you can that there
is a 18.10% change in the number of users. This increase consisted of 7,728 users to 9,127 users.
In addition to this we can also see that as far as new users in this same age range, there was a
18.36% change and new users went from 7,168 to 8,484. However, for the age range 25-34, there
was a slight decrease for number of new users and users. The data shows that the number of
users in the 25-34 age group decreased by 12.02% from 16,990 to 14,947 as users in this age
group decreased from 16,990 to 14,947. We also observe a -14.21% change in new users at the
below-mentioned age range, with the number of new users decreasing from 15,562 to 13,350.
Therefore, the number of young users between the ages of 18 and 24 has increased while the
number of users between the ages of 25 and 34 has declined. During the same period, however,
we still see drastic changes in the proportion of older users. We see a 95.02% increase in users in
the 45-54 age range, as the number of users in this age range increased from 2,608 to 5,086. For
the age range of 55-64 we see a 173.7% change in users as the number of users in this age range
increased from 1,000 to 2,737. We see an increase of 296.32% in users aged 65 and over. The
number of users in this age group grew from 570 to 2,259 during this time. The younger segment
is larger than the older segment despite higher increases in the older group.
Comparatively to the holiday shopping season in 2019, the number of female users of GMS
Company increased in 2020. There was an increase of 24.3% in female users from 2019 to 2020.
Specifically, there was an increase of 13,534 female users from 2019 to 2020. In addition, new
female users are increasing at a similar pace. There was a 20.48% increase in the number of
female new users between 2019 and 2020. There were 12,667 more female users in 2020 than in
2019. In the end, this suggests that GMS Company achieved its goal of attracting a larger
proportion of females to their online store during the holiday shopping season of 2020 compared
to the same period in 2019.
Graph #3, #4, & #5 - Age Proportions (Part A)
Graph #6 – Gender (Part B)
Analysis 3
United States, India, and Canada are the top three countries that sent users to the GMS Company
online store in 2020. There were 232,419 visitors from the United States to the online store of
GMS Company in 2020. In 2020, GMS Company had 48,551 users from India visiting its online
store. GMS Company had 26,528 users from Canada visit its online store in 2020. In 2019, the
United States, India, and the United Kingdom were the top three countries referring users to the
GMS Company online store. GMS Company received 253,808 US customers through its online
store in 2019. In 2019, India had also received 47,126 users sent to the GMS Company online
store. Lastly, the United Kingdom had 31,141 users sent to the GMS Company online store in
2019. When looking at the percentage change in the number of newly registered users by country
of residence, the country from the top 3 countries identified in Part (A) that had the highest
percentage change in number of users during 2020 compared to 2019, was Canada. This is
shown as Canada had a rate change of 25.28%. This is a lot higher than the rate change of the
United States of - 6.33% and of India at 1.18%. Moreover, of the best 3 nations distinguished to
some degree (a) the country that showed minimal improvement in rate change in new clients
during 2020 contrasted with 2019, was the United States. Also, in addition to the fact that the
United States showed the least improvement however it is the main nation of the best 3 to show a
backward rate. As identified in the analysis, the top 5 U.S. states which sent users to the GMS
Company online in 2020 are California, New York, Texas, Virginia, and Florida. In 2020,
California had 63,929 users sent to the GMS Company online store, whereas New York had
18,532, Texas had 16,055, Virginia had 15,289, and finally Florida had 9,413 users sent to the
GMS Company online store in 2020.
Graph #7, #8, #9, #10 – Top 3 Countries Sent Users in 2020 & 2019 (Part A)
Graph #11 & #12 – Best and Least Improved Top Country New User % (Part B)
Graph #13 & # #14 – Top 5 U.S. States Which Sent Users (2020) (Part C)
Analysis 4
In this section I will be analyzing the top three affinity categories for the GMS Company. The
top three sections for males are “Media & Entertainment/Movie Lovers,” “Shoppers/Value
Shoppers,” and “Technology/Technophiles.” The revenue for GMS Company for males in the
“Media & Entertainment/Movie Lovers,” in 2020 was about $10,600, it was about $10,074.
Regarding the top three affinity categories for GMS Company for females it was,
“Shoppers/Value Shoppers,” Lifestyles & Hobbies/Art & Theater Aficionados,” and “Media &
Entertainment/Movie Lovers.” The revenue for GMS Company for females in the
“Shoppers/Value Shoppers,” in 2020 was about $13,151. The revenue for GMS Company for
females in the” Lifestyles & Hobbies/Art & Theater Aficionados,” in 2020 was about $12,959.
The revenue for GMS Company for females in the “Media & Entertainment/Movie Lovers.” in
2020 was about $11,001.
Graph #15 & #16 – Gender, Affinity Groups, and Revenue
Analysis 5
In the 2020 back-to-school shopping season, the total number of users was 87,941. Of these,
12,832 were converted and 74,860 were not. This shows a very high untapped potential and
shows that GMS companies want to step up their efforts to get more users to buy the product.
The total number of meetings was 121,313. Of these, 30,337 were converted and 90,976 were
not. This shows that only about one-third of user interactions lead to product purchases. The
average total sessions per user is 1.38. Despite this, the average number of sessions per user for
converters was 2.36, and the average number of sessions for non-converters was 1.22. This
shows that those who have purchased attended more sessions than those who did not. The total
page views for all users are 661,761. Nonetheless, converters had 435,451 page views, and nonconverters had an average of 226,310 page views. This shows that, on average, converted views
are about twice as many pages as non-converted pages. The average session length for all users
was 3 minutes and 23 minutes. For converters, the average session length is 9 minutes. For nonconverters, the average session length was 1 minute 31 seconds. This shows that, on average,
conversions take almost 10 times as long per session as non-conversions on the GMS company
website. The bounce rate for all users is 42.31%. For converters, the bounce rate is less than half
of 15.70%, while for non-converters, the bounce rate is high at 51.18%. In terms of gender,
23,326 users are male, and 14,401 users are female. Of the above numbers, 3,823 male users
were converters, and 19,429 male users were non-converters. Additionally, 2,474 female users
were converters and 12,006 were non-converters. Men performed a total of 32,148 times, while
women performed 20,668 times. 8,713 sessions conducted by men were by converts, while
23,435 sessions by men were by non-converts. 5,856 female-led sessions were led by converts,
while 14,812 female-led sessions were led by non-converts. The average session duration was 3
minutes 40 seconds for men and 3 minutes 50 seconds for women. Still, the average session
duration for male converts was 9 minutes 11 seconds, compared to 1 minute 37 seconds for nonconverted men. The average session duration was 9 minutes 11 seconds for female converters
and 1 minute 43 seconds for female non-converters. The overall bounce rate for male users is
39.04% and for female users is 40.35%. For male users, the bounce rate for male conversions
was 15.53%, while the bounce rate for males who did not convert was 47.78%. For female users,
the bounce rate for female conversions was 16.77%, while the bounce rate for non-converting
females was 49.92%.
Graph #16 and #17 – Converters & Non-Converters (Part A)
Graph #18 & #19 – Converters & Non-Converters Gender (Part B)
Phase 3 – Conclusions and Recommendations
After reviewing 5 articles and academic journals as well as conducting web-based
research using Google Analytics’ GMS Company online store, I have found multiple conclusions
and can provide a few recommendations on online shopping and its future trends. Many of the
literature helped me conclude that it’s obvious that there is an upward trend of online consumer
buying especially segments like Gen Z and millennials as well as those with high income.
Surprisingly, I found that men typically shopped online more often than women, possibly sue to
the nature of only need necessities which can be fulfilled by means of things like subscription
models. In addition to this, based on the web-based research with GMS Company, online
shopping seems to be highly beneficial especially in areas like the U.S. and Canada. within the
U.S., the states of California, New York, Texas. Virginia and Florida should be further targeted.
Affinity groups like, Media & Entertainment/Movie Lovers,” “Shoppers/Value Shoppers,” and
“Technology/Technophiles,” also seem to be popular within both male and female
demographics.
One recommendation is to tailor advertising techniques to younger demographics.
Making certain that advertising techniques are aware of the younger demographic of online
purchasing purchasers could be important. Additionally, imparting a whole lot of methods for
consumers to buy matters is an internet purchasing benefit that need to be in addition marketed
and used by agencies like GMS Company. Also, reevaluating the installation of the internet site
to lower the ratio of non-converters could be pertinent. All in all, there may be continually room
for development inside strategizing and this evaluation has helped in figuring out the regions
wherein development may be implemented
Phase 4 - References
References
Charm, T., Coggins, B., Robinson, K., & Wilkie, J. (2020, December 14). The great consumer
shift: Ten charts that show how US shopping behavior is changing. McKinsey &
Company. Retrieved April 18, 2022, from https://www.mckinsey.com/businessfunctions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/the-great-consumer-shift-ten-charts-thatshow-how-us-shopping-behavior-is-changing
Gu, S., Ślusarczyk, B., Hajizada, S., Kovalyova, I., & Sakhbieva, A. (2021). Impact of the
COVID-19
pandemic on online consumer purchasing behavior. Journal of Theoretical and Applied
Electronic Commerce Research, 16(6), 2263–2281.
https://doi.org/10.3390/jtaer16060125
Kunst, A. (2022, March 22). Drivers of online purchases in the United States 2021. Statista.
Retrieved April 18, 2022, from https://www.statista.com/forecasts/997240/drivers-ofonline-purchases-in-the-us
The pandemic has changed global consumer behaviour forever - and online shopping looks set to
stay. (2021). Retrieved 18 April 2022, from
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/07/global-consumer-behaviour-trends-onlineshopping/