PwC: Romanian online shopping in its infancy, smartphones and tablets still less used than PCs

Businesses should think twice before throwing all their resources into marketing via social media and mobile devices, according to a new study from consultancy firm PwC. The report Demystifying the online shopper: 10 myths of multichannel retailing suggests that despite the buzz about the growth of shopping via tablet and smartphone, the decline of the traditional shop and the rising importance of social media, the figures reflect a different situation, for now at least. Some figures from the study highlight that although social media and mobile applications are of rising importance, they have by no means replaced physical stores or shopping online via a PC. Only 10 percent of respondents said social media had led them directly to an online shopping site while 17 percent never buy online. PC's still rule the roost, with 97 percent saying they had used a PC when shopping online, compared to 28 percent who had used tablets. The local picture is perhaps different again. Online shopping via any device does not appear to be very advanced in Romania, so if the promised future is yet to arrive elsewhere, then it seems likely it is even further away from the local market. “In Romania, online retail is still in its infancy, yet the potential is there and we expect to see a steady growth in online sales over the next few years”, said Bogdan Belciu, Management Consulting Services Partner with PwC Romania. The PwC report identified ten dubious, but commonly held beliefs: Myth 1: Social media will soon become an indispensable retail channel On its own, social media isn't likely to become an important retail channel anytime soon. But it's becoming more popular every year--and it's driving more shopping across all channels, not just online ones. Myth 2: Stores will become mainly showrooms in the future Many multichannel shoppers say they research online, but more still prefer to buy products at a physical store. Myth 3: The tablet will soon overtake the PC as the preferred online shopping device Shoppers are still overwhelmingly using their PCs to shop online. Tablets and smart phones won't catch up any soon--but they may become more important for other parts of the purchase journey. Myth 4: As the world gets smaller, global consumers are getting more alike Although consumers shop with more global retailers than ever before, and even online across borders, a wide range of local differences in consumer behaviors exists. Myth 5: China is the future model of online retail China is at the forefront of some key trends, but we believe its multichannel and online model is unique.