At the start of 2022, CPG brands and retailers were equally unsure of what to expect in terms of consumer shopping behavior. Would there be a massive return to retail? Would ecommerce experiences continue to dominate the market?

Looking back on the year, some key shopper trends surfaced that are early indicators of what to expect as a brand or retailer in 2023.

Key Shopping Themes from 2022:

After 2+ years of prioritizing online shopping, consumers showed few signs of returning to prior habits, preferring the convenience and ease of shopping online over waiting in line.

• Only 21% of surveyed shoppers said they planned to shop exclusively in-store this year ‍
• 78% said they preferred the convenience and 61% said they preferred the ease of ordering items online over buying them at brick and mortar locations ‍
• 60% said their preference for buying online was mainly to avoid the crowds (can you blame ‘em?) ‍

Pear Tip: Providing an intuitive and easy online shopping experience is crucial. We’re all aware of the importance of “meeting the customer where they shop” by now, and ecommerce - particularly retail ecommerce - is it.

Present your customers with the option to purchase through your ecomm site or their preferred retailer’s ecomm cart (we can help) so you never lose a sale due to inconvenience.

The combination of competitive pricing and mindful spending had a lot of shoppers prioritizing shopping local.

• ‍72% of surveyed shoppers said they were likely to shop at independent stores either locally or online over bigger retailers ‍

Pear Tip: Highlight your regional retail partners and make sure your brand has user friendly paths-to-purchase for every in-stock location.

Looking to enable these capabilities? Pear's real-time inventory scanning does the work for you, connecting any UPC to every available retailer - down to the local bodega. Our shoppable tools only display retail locations with inventory in stock for each user, so you’ll never have to worry about them hitting a broken link or arriving at an OOS location.

While shoppers preferred to shop online, shipping costs were still a major deterrent for completing purchases.

• For online shoppers, free shipping was the discount they seek out most (45%)‍
• 32% reported they wouldn’t purchase an item that doesn’t come with free shipping‍

Pear Tip: If you're unable to offer free shipping, ensure your customers know local click-and-collect/BOPIS options are available through your retail partners.

Pear's shoppable landing pages, PDPs, and store locators give you the ability to list both your own DTC/ecommerce option and every in-stock retailer in a shopper's area, meeting the needs and preferences of every type of customer.

Include links to these shoppable tools in your organic posts, email content, and social bios for greater visibility and awareness year round.

The best part? The Pear dashboard collects actionable insights on who is shopping for what and where, unlocking your ability to build audiences based off of retailer visits, add-to-carts, and purchases. The data and insights captured can then be used to fuel optimized performance marketing strategies for your brand.

Ready to learn more about Pear’s retail ecommerce shoppability and insights? Schedule a demo with our team. →

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