How has consumer shopping behavior changed in recent years?
Correct Answer
People are buying fewer items more frequently.
Key takeaways
People buy fewer items per order, but order more often.
Mobile removed the friction that made buying a planned event.
Smaller baskets are not a problem if purchase frequency has risen.
Why is this the correct answer?
The shift is towards smaller, more frequent purchases. Phones removed the friction that used to make buying a planned event, so people now buy in short bursts through the day rather than filling one large basket on one occasion. For a retailer this changes what good performance looks like: fewer items per order is not a warning sign if order frequency has risen, and judging a customer on a single transaction understates what they are worth.
Why are the other options wrong?
People are buying more items but less frequently.
This inverts both halves. Frequency has risen rather than fallen, and basket sizes have come down.
People are buying fewer items and less frequently.
Fewer items is right, but purchases have become more frequent, not less.
People are buying more items and more frequently.
More frequently is right, but the number of items per purchase has fallen rather than grown.
Frequently asked questions about this topic
How should this change the way I measure success?
Look at repeat purchase rate and customer value over time alongside average order value, because a falling basket size with rising frequency is a healthy pattern that a single-order metric reads as decline.
Topics in this question
About the Shopping Ads Certification
The Shopping Ads Certification checks that you can run retail campaigns end to end: product data in Merchant Center, linking it to Google Ads, and choosing between Standard Shopping and Performance Max to drive sales and value.
Exam guide and all 407 Google Ads Shopping questions →Related Google Ads Shopping questions
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