There is no denying the appeal of shopping online. The ability to sift through thousands of items and ship them to your home with just a click of a button is easy and convenient. But there is a reason many people still prefer to shop in-store. According to a 2021 report on the state of consumer behavior, 33% of respondents prefer shopping at physical stores because they like to view, touch and interact with physical products. The tangible experience of touching the fabric of a couch, holding a handbag or seeing the scale of a chair in the context of a room is lost when shopping online. The offline experience allows for a more informed buying decision.
Compare this to the experience of shopping for the same item on an ecommerce marketplace. While it may be easier to shop for a new rug from the comfort of your living room, the tactile, contextual experience that many people prefer is lost. This experience gap between online and in-store shopping is a tradeoff consumers make for the sake of convenience.