A hefty number of consumers, 76%, view online shopping as lacking excitement and nearly one third, 29%, view it as a chore.
Those are top findings from a Criteo report revealing e-commerce has become a predictable and mechanical customer experience.
Additional findings include that while influencers drive traffic consumers are skeptical of content and find online shopping overwhelming at time.
Over half, 61%, of shoppers turn to online shopping purely for convenience, while a third, 36%, lament the loss of 'unexpected finds,' according to a press release on the findings.
Almost 79% of consumers feel online shopping is lonely, 78% say they are overwhelmed by too many product choices and 50% find online shopping relaxing or enjoyable.
"Once, shopping was about excitement — the thrill of the unexpected, the delight of discovery. Today, we no longer 'go shopping' — we are always shopping — but that hasn't made the experience more exciting. Instead, online retail has become a functional necessity, optimized for speed but stripped of surprise and spontaneity. Our research shows that consumers crave the thrill of the unexpected, yet too often, discovery is being left to chance. Brands that don't reinject joy into the shopping journey risk fading into the background of a transactional, forgettable experience," Marc Fischli, executive MD EMEA at Criteo, said in the release.
Criteo partnered with Harvard PR and market research specialist Vitreous World to conduct a global online survey with a sample size of 6,000 consumers and 600 brand leaders across six markets, the U.K., U.S., France, Germany, Japan and South Korea.