CANADA, June 2024 – The retail industry is constantly grappling with new, emerging technologies, and brands are having to innovate to keep up with new trends. So how are these changes affecting the buyer journey and brand trust, and are Canadian consumers welcoming these technological advancements?
Two-thirds of Canadian consumers are uninterested in adopting new retail technologies to shop online. This is compared to a global average of 42%, demonstrating a lack of willingness to adopt new tech among Canadians.
Consumers are more Trusting of AI than Social Media Platforms
Capterra’s study reveals that social media is one of the least popular online platforms to begin a shopping journey. 42% of consumers don’t even want to engage with brands on social media, demonstrating a desire to maintain traditional methods of ecommerce. Just 13% of shoppers typically start their eCommerce journeys on social media, compared to 55% who use search engines and 43% for retailer websites, and only 8% end up actually buying products on social media.
In fact, 83% of consumers do not want social media companies to know what products they buy online. However, 41% are happy to be recommended products by artificial intelligence based on their previous purchases. A quarter would even accept recommendations based on their search and viewing history. 61% are happy to be recommended discounts or deals.
Brian Westfall comments, ‘Consumers are clearly interested in the ways AI and predictive algorithms can facilitate their online shopping experiences. Artificial intelligence tools are revolutionizing industries, and brands are right to want to adopt them, but it’s important to take precautions and scrutinize the platforms they are choosing to adopt, particularly surrounding data privacy concerns.’
Social Media Fatigue is Permeating the Online Shopping Experience
Social media ads and influencer brand partnerships are driving further mistrust in the platforms:
● 72% of consumers do not trust reviews by social media influencers, and 89% say they see too many ads on social media.
● 22% have blocked or unfollowed a brand in response to a social media ad in the past year, and 28% have blocked a specific advertisement.
But it’s not all negative for social media platforms, as 42% have looked up information about a product in response to an ad on social media in the past 12 months and 28% bought one or more products because of an ad. However, only 9% say they see social media platforms as a trustworthy source for reviews, compared to 57% for friends and family and 44% for reviews websites.
Tessa Anaya, analyst for this study, reports: ‘Consumers are right to be skeptical of paid marketing and social advertisements. Brands should encourage customers to leave genuinereviews in order to boost brand trust and not rely solely on influencer programs. Building an organic community of users may be a more valuable long-term strategy for brands to build trust among new and returning customers’.
Price & Product Quality are the Main Factors that Keep Customers Loyal
59% of consumers say that finding the lowest price for a product has been in their top considerations when purchasing new products over the last year. When it comes to repeat customers, 78% cite price as being the top driver for remaining loyal to a brand, followed by product quality, cited by 75%. However, price and quality are also the most important factors for those consumers who want to try new brands: 77% are motivated to try new brands if they offer lower prices, and 58% want better quality products.
A loyalty or rewards program could also be a factor that determines brand loyalty, as this is a top consideration for 51% of consumers that tend to stay loyal to brands. However, Capterra’s study highlights a gap for loyalty programs to attract repeat customers, as they are only being widely adopted in the grocery sector by 76% of consumers.
Related Reading
Consumers Expect AI to Enhance Online Shopping Experience
These Digital Discounts Do Double Duty to Maximize Online Sales
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I highly doubt most Canadians understand enough about AI to judge it either way. If they did, they definitely wouldn’t trust it more than social networks. It’s not the Canadian way to trust new tech.
Melody, I can certainly understand the consumers’ disdain for seeing too many ads on social media.
And you certainly give us some interesting factiods from that Capterra study on consumers’ eCommerce journeys.
But who knew that the “know, like and trust” factor applies equally to AI?!
While I do consider myself to be an influencer of sorts – I’m saying, “Send your know, like and trust my way – to a real person, not AI.”.
My primary goal is to reach a broader audience on social media and get them interested in visiting my website as an affiliate.
And for me as an organic traffic strategy, that means sharing blog posts such as yours to show the passion I have for doing business online.
I like your shorter blog posts and you pack-in plenty of valuable tidbits – making it worthy of bookmarking.