Assessing the characteristics of the non-store shopper

Abstract

Non-store shopping and the related technology is a business phenomenon that is enjoying tremendous growth. Because of its recency and the limited research on the topic, very little is known about the characteristics that distinguish users of non-store alternatives from non-users. Moreover, differences between the non-store categories have not been addressed. Over 1,900 consumers were surveyed in respect to usage level of non-store alternatives, psychographic and attiudinal variables and demographic characteristics. A four-cluster solution resulted: (1) the fanatic non-store user, (2) the personal non-store user, (3) the non-personal non-store user and (4) the traditional shopper. Each of these dusters differed across a number of demographic and psychographic/ammdinal variables. A discussion of implications ended the paper.