A new study by Rakuten Intelligence found that remote workers shop online nearly twice as much as their peers working in an office setting. The report also revealed that, on average, remote workers spend over $2,000 annually on online purchases compared with office-based employees.
This shift towards eCommerce can be attributed to several factors. Remote workers have more time to shop since they don’t need to commute or take lunch breaks away from their home offices. Additionally, many of these employees may not live close enough to physical stores for convenient shopping trips, making online retailers even more attractive options for them.
Remote Workers Shop 2x Than In-office Workers
The research, titled “How The World Does Digital: Different Paths To Digital Transformation,” conducted by PYMNTS, revealed that the number of consumers working online remotely has risen to 44%, a new high since Q2 2022. It follows that this highly connected group is taking advantage of digital shopping – 73% for retail goods and 63% for groceries.
This news is great for the economy as a whole but not so much for retail stores located in downtown areas that are still largely vacant during normal working hours. With fewer people commuting to work and engaging with local businesses, these shops have had to shift their focus and find innovative ways to stay afloat.
PYMNTS also researched the changes to the work scene in “12 Months Of The ConnectedEconomy™”. They found that while 53% of respondents were working remotely or in a hybrid environment in November 2021, by the end of 2022, this number had risen to 58%. This resulted in an additional 8 million people becoming part of the remote workforce over one year.
