Consumers prefer online shopping and trips to physical stores decrease

Consumers have been buying more and more in online stores and marketplaces and opting less for physical stores, according to the CX Trends 2025 survey, conducted by Octadesk, a service platform of LWSA, in partnership with Opinion Box. 

According to the survey, 64% of respondents revealed preference for physical stores 3 percentage points less than the one found in last year's edition of the same study. Already the search for purchases on websites and virtual stores reached 77% of consumers. Still, among those surveyed, 43% still said to make purchases by apps from stores and 15% said to buy through social networks such as Whatsapp and Instagram. 

Convenience and costs drive this consumer preference for online. According to the study, among the reasons for online shopping are free shipping (62%), product or service quality (56%) and low price (53%). The main channels of purchase include online stores (68%), marketplaces (66%), WhatsApp (30%) and Instagram (28%). 

Personalization of messages influences purchases

In addition to free shipping and convenience, hyperpersonalization and artificial intelligence (AI) influence 6 out of 10 decisions to purchase products or services. In the last 12 months, 68% of consumers highlighted personalization in service as a decision factor, while 50% pointed out that they have already had experience with AI when making their purchases 8 percentage points growth over the previous year. 

In addition, 35% of respondents said they have experienced personalized recommendations through AI in their product purchases or service contracting.“Today, in addition to quality or efficiency, the consumer wants an experience that understands and connects to their needs. Technology should be used as an ally to enhance human service, not replace it. This combination creates an experience that really makes a difference for the customer and brings an opportunity to increase revenue for companies”, says Rodrigo Ricco, Founder and Managing Director of Octadesk. 

CX Trends 2025 was carried out by Octadesk in partnership with Opinion Box, supported by Vindi, Locaweb, Moskit, Bling and KingHost, and heard more than 2 thousand online consumers over 16 years of age from all over Brazil and from all social classes. The margin of error of the survey is 2.2 percentage points. To access the full report, the Click here.