“In terms of these habits across age groups, the patterns we’ve seen during lockdown look set to extend longer term,” said Bill Fisher, eMarketer senior analyst at Insider Intelligence and author of our new report, “UK Digital Trends by Generation 2020.”
“Everyone is likely to shop more digitally," he said. "But large proportions of older consumers are looking forward to things returning to how they were."
According to Amy Jackson, business director at digital marketing performance firm Incubeta, "The high street will bounce back to some degree, though not as it was pre-COVID-19. I think people will start to go back to an environment where you’ve got shopping, hospitality and cinemas. This still trends toward younger demographics but will definitely pick up in older groups, too. They don’t necessarily go onto the high street to purchase. The experience is why they’re going. It’s that human element that people have been missing out on this year. It’s going to have a massive impact next year.”
Some 42% of UK digital buyers said they expect to shop more digitally post-pandemic vs. just 6% who expected to shop more in-store, per a May 2020 ChannelAdvisor study. However, there was a clear generational split that made up that average.
The 18-to-45 age groups were more likely to shift habits online, with those 26 to 35 most likely to do so (59%). The 56-and-older cohorts were least likely to increase digital shopping ( 31%), with twice as many indicating that “nothing will change.” Notably, though, the youngest cohort was most likely to shop more in-store in the future.