US Online Shopping Trends Report: Consumer Preferences & Behavior [2024]

73% of online shoppers in the US prefer to shop on their mobile phones over desktops (according to our newly published survey). The days of shopping on a desktop may soon be behind us in today’s increasingly mobile-first world.

eCommerce brands must constantly refine and improve their online store pages to cater to the expectations and needs of modern online shoppers. 

Understanding online consumer behavior and preferences can enable eCommerce merchants and marketers to create a positive shopping experience across all devices and screen sizes. 

Our report on US Online Shopping Trends dives into the intricacies of these habits, providing valuable insights into consumer preferences and behaviors.

About this research:

Conducted through SurveyMonkey Audience and published by Instant Page Builder, this survey gathered responses from a diverse group of 290 online consumers across the United States. 

The findings highlight key trends in device usage, triggers for mobile shopping, the importance of mobile landing page design, and trust factors in e-commerce. This report aims to help online retailers understand these behaviors and leverage them to enhance their e-commerce success. 

Let’s dive into the key findings and the implications they hold for online retailers:  

US Online Shopping Trends Report: Key findings

1. Most frequently used devices for online shopping

Our mobile phones have become the primary tool for many aspects of our lives, including online shopping.

Mobile phones are the primary device for online shopping, used by 73.45% of respondents.

It’s clear that mobile commerce will play a big role in the sales funnel for eCommerce brands. 

This data also confirms trends predicted in January by industry experts in our Mobile Commerce in 2024 report. 

Here’s a summary of the advice these experts provided for improving the mobile experience: 

• Find and improve friction spots in the customer journey (especially the checkout process!). 
  
  

• Think about where customers are coming from: if they are arriving from paid social ads, they will likely be visiting an online store via their smartphone. 
  
  

• Make sure the font type size is readable across all screen sizes. 
  
  

• Try building pages for a mobile screen size first, then adjusting for desktop (instead of the other way around!). 
  
  

• Ensure all store pages have a fast loading time. 

The bottom line is that with the majority of online shoppers accessing online stores via their phones, online retailers need to prioritize mobile optimization. 

2. Common triggers for mobile shopping

Figuring out what motivates shoppers to start shopping is key for e-commerce marketers. 

The most common trigger for mobile shopping is remembering a product that is needed or wanted (23.79%), followed by seeing an ad on social media (18.28%).

The key takeaway here is that brands need to focus on activities like targeted ads and reminders to capture the attention of potential customers. 

3. Impact of mobile landing page design

Online stores with a high mobile abandonment rate may be missing out on plenty of potential customers due to their page design. 

65.52% of respondents consider the design of a mobile landing page extremely or very important in their decision to stay or leave an online store while shopping. 

Online retailers that want to recover this lost sales potential should invest in high-quality, user-friendly mobile design is crucial for retaining customers and reducing bounce rates.

Brands that prioritize mobile page design may also see a significant conversion lift. 

For example, 70% of Prodigy Disc’s online traffic comes from mobile users. 

To create a seamless mobile experience, they used Instant, a Shopify page builder, to create a homepage banner for their Shopify store that adapts based on the screen size/device used: 

4. Essential mobile shopping design elements

Focusing on navigation, clear product images, and fast loading times is a great place to start for brands that wish to improve their mobile experience. 

Easy navigation (76.55%) and clear product images (70.69%) are the most important design elements for a good mobile shopping experience.

Getting their image sizing/formatting right, can enable brands to improve their loading times; here’s a Shopify image sizing guide that can help marketers to get started.

5. Preferred mobile landing page features

When consumers are shopping on mobile landing pages, they want to be easy to find all the information they need to make a purchasing decision. 

The most appreciated features on a mobile landing page are high-quality images and videos (63.10%), easy navigation (67.93%), and clear and concise information (61.03%).

To improve the mobile shopping experience, brands can try A/B testing different page versions with these features to create the best possible version of their mobile landing pages. 

6. Paid ad redirection expectations 

In addition to mobile landing pages, optimizing PDPs is essential for creating a seamless PPC conversion funnel. 

The majority of respondents (53.10%) expect to be redirected to the product page when they click on a product ad.

Online retailers should create custom product pages tailored for optimal performance to increase the likelihood of a purchase. 

7. Matching ad content with landing page

Ensuring consistency between ads and landing pages can build trust and reduce frustration, potentially leading to higher conversion rates among consumers. 

41.38% of respondents state that the content of the mobile landing page usually matches their expectations based on the ad.

Unfortunately, it is still quite common to see advertisers promoting one specific product in their ads but sending users to a general landing page where it is hard (or impossible) to find the advertised product. This creates frustration for buyers, which decreases the likelihood of a conversion. 

This shows that many brands have a lot of work to do when it comes to creating a cohesive conversion funnel from paid ads to their Shopify landing pages.

8. Important trust factors for online shoppers

Trust is an important factor in the purchasing decision process for online shoppers. 

Positive customer reviews/ratings (55.86%) and a clear and transparent return policy (52.41%) are the top factors that make consumers trust an online store.

For online stores, finding ways to add social proof is essential for enhancing consumer trust and credibility. 

For example, here’s how BEACN created custom Shopify sections with Instant that showcase their customer reviews and media mentions: 

9. New product discovery channels

Figuring out where consumers are discovering products can help brands choose which channels to prioritize in their marketing activities. 

Search engine results (48.62%) and social media ads (43.10%) are the primary methods for discovering new products.

This suggests that investing in SEO and social media marketing can be highly effective strategies for product discovery and customer acquisition! 

Conclusion

The findings of this report provide valuable insights into the online shopping habits of consumers in the USA. It’s clear that US shoppers in 2024 have a clear preference for shopping via their mobile devices.

Online retailers need to consider mobile commerce when designing their online stores. Page builders such as Instant can enable retailers to preview their Shopify landing pages and PDPs across all screen sizes, ensuring that all their designs are mobile-first, not just mobile-friendly.

Retailers should leverage these insights to enhance their online stores, improve user experience, and ultimately drive higher conversions and customer loyalty. 

Methodology

This survey was conducted via SurveyMonkey Audience, targeting a diverse group of online consumers based in the United States. Information on how respondents are recruited to SurveyMonkey is available here.

Instant Page Builder published the survey, ensuring a broad reach and reliable data collection. Respondents' demographics, including age, gender, household income, and major US regions, were recorded to ensure a representative sample. The survey covered various aspects of online shopping behavior, focusing on device usage, triggers for mobile shopping, landing page design, trust factors, and product discovery methods.