Commentary

Report: Shopping Evenly Split Between Online And Physical Stores

 

VML is out with the 2026 edition of its Future Shopper Report which finds that shopping is now evenly split between online and physical stores, with each serving different purposes. 

 Marketplaces are favored for convenience, while brand websites and stores are important for product information, service, and advice.  

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AI is becoming a bigger part of how people discover products, but consumers don't fully trust it and often verify its recommendations elsewhere. 

Per the report, shoppers have become more practical because of financial pressure, although they still spend on small everyday treats like coffee and beauty products. 

The report advises that brands focus on the basics—competitive pricing, reliable delivery, product availability, and easy shopping—while making it easy for both AI tools and consumers to find and trust their products. Marketers that combine new technology and keep their promises will be best positioned to succeed. 

More headlines from the report: 

  • The shopping journey is becoming more fragmented. Search engines, marketplaces, brand websites, and AI tools are all competing to help consumers discover products. Shoppers are also quick to abandon platforms that have become cluttered with ads or provide a poorer experience than they once did.  

  • Mobile is still the top way people shop online. Smartphones remain consumers' preferred shopping device, but many retailers still haven't made the mobile shopping experience easy enough.  

  • What influences purchases is changing. Consumers increasingly rely on either trusted family and friends or AI recommendations. Social commerce is still developing, with TikTok emerging as the leading platform for younger shoppers.  

  • Financial pressure is changing attitudes toward privacy. Some consumers are becoming more willing to sell personal data—or even use their bodies or likenesses for advertising—in exchange for extra income, reflecting how economic stress is reshaping views on privacy and personal information.  

The report is based on 28,000 consumer surveys taken in May and June of this year across 17 countries. See more from the report here. 

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