Key takeaways:

• Globally, the majority of online shoppers say that when buying online it is important for a retailer to have a physical store presence near their home or work.
• On average, across Europe, the United States and Canada, nearly two-thirds of Millennial online shoppers say that the presence of a local store is very important or somewhat important, compared with over half for Gen X and over two-fifths for Baby Boomers.
• Exclusivity, variety of offerings and convenience of collection/returns are the primary motivations for shopping online from an omni-channel retailer.
• If a retailer they currently patronise closes a local store, roughly two-fifths of consumers would no longer spend their money with that retailer.
• In Europe, the United States and Canada, the presence of physical stores plays an important role in raising brand awareness and enhancing consumers’ perception of and trust in a retailer.
• Approximately one-third of consumers would increase the frequency of visits to a known retailer’s website as a direct result of a new store opening near their home or work.
• Globally, more than four-fifths of consumers would visit an unfamiliar retailer’s website as a direct result of a nearby store opening.
• If an unfamiliar retailer opened a nearby store, 79% of both European and Canadian consumers and 77% of U.S. consumers would visit both the store and the website, with the majority of these consumers going to the store first.