The future of shopping: more social networks, payment in installments and the return of the physical store

The 24-hour Internet connection has revolutionized the ways of consumption, with greater use of social networks as a place to shop, the proliferation of new ways to pay in installments and subscriptions to new services by stores.

But the physical store is not going to disappear, rather it is becoming more and more related to the virtual world.

These are the main conclusions of a study presented this Wednesday by the consulting firm Nielsen to give clues about current consumption.

"The digital ecosystem is changing every day and the search for experiences is going to be one of the keys to new trends," explained Maira Barcellos, head of Nielsen for Spain and Portugal.

The study indicates that Spaniards spend 43% of the week connected to the Internet, that is, some 73 hours, compared to the 69 hours on average last year.

"More hours than we sleep," Barcellos said.

And the so-called “double screen effect” has been imposed: watching television while we look at social networks on the mobile.

It is a habit that can lead to buying something that is being watched on television at that moment on the mobile.

The report (

) highlights that 92% of consumers have made an

purchase in the last 3 months and 60% buy between once and twice a month.

This year, 54% of Spaniards have bought fashion items, clothing and accessories.

29% purchased beauty products

.

Similarly, another 29% have made

purchases aimed at travel and tourism activities.

Despite the increase in

activity , face-to-face purchases will predominate, for example, this Christmas: 53% will go out to buy, compared to 49% last year.

What drives us to buy in stores?

The reasons for going to stores are to see and touch the products for 63% of Spaniards, to try on the products (48%) and the shopping experience (42%).

In parallel, regarding the reasons for buying online, 66% say they do it to save time, free shipping (48%) and 24-hour access (44%).

The inflationary spiral is leading more people to take advantage of new payment methods in installments or deferred payment, which more and more stores offer directly.

"20% of consumers have already made a payment in this way this year," according to the report.

31% of users buy online

because he finds it easier to postpone his acquisitions.

purchase tickets

(46%), QR (40%) and touch screens in stores (34%) are more common in the Spanish market and are already part of our shopping experience.

The new modality of

with advertising that some companies are beginning to launch is unevenly accepted.

The analysis reveals that 41% of those who say they watch

videos through these platforms are willing to opt for the most expensive option without advertising, compared to 27% who opt for the cheapest proposal with ads and a reduced offer of content.

In parallel, 24% would cancel their subscription because they are not willing to see advertising.

50% of Spaniards know what the metaverse is, especially men between the ages of 16 and 29 (72%), according to the report.

Of those who know it, however, only 26% say they have entered it at some time and 74% say they have not.

The knowledge and purchase of NFTs is also growing.

44% of the users surveyed for the study know what they are, especially men between the ages of 16 and 20 (82%).

30% of the people consulted stated that they would buy an NFT, and 62% say that they know how to acquire it.

20% of Spaniards say they have an NFT, especially men between 21 and 29 years old (33%).