Online shopping is thriving during COVID: about half of people in a new Fortune|SurveyMonkey poll (49%) say they’re making online purchases more often now than before the pandemic.
- 16% make online purchases several times a week or more
- 21% make online purchases about once a week
- 24% make online purchases several times a month
- 16% make online purchases about once a month
- 15% make online purchases several times a year or less frequently
- 6% say they never make online purchases
People in higher-income households are much more likely to make frequent online purchases: 27% of those with six-figure household incomes say they buy things online several times a week or more, compared with just 11% of those making less than $50,000.
Most (59%) expect to be making online purchases about as often a year from now as they do today, with the rest split between those who think they’ll be making purchases more often (19%) and less often (19%).
Yet, security is still a concern with online shopping: though 46% of people say buying something with a credit card online is as secure as buying something with a credit card in-person, nearly as many (41%) say that buying online is less secure (and just 12% say it is more secure).
About three in four people in the U.S. (74%) use at least one digital payment platform, with 42% using Paypal, 26% using Venmo, 22% using Zelle, 21% using the Cash app, 19% using ApplePay, and still more using less popular apps.
- 86% of 18-34 year-olds use at least one digital payment app
- Paypal (40%) and Venmo (39%) are the most popular
- 75% of 35-64 year-olds use at least one digital payment app
- Paypal (46%) is the most popular
- 56% of those 65 and older use at least one digital payment app
- Paypal (34%) is the most popular
The pandemic has spurred younger adults to rely more on digital payments. Nearly half of those age 18-34 (47%) are making payments using digital platforms more often now than before the coronavirus pandemic. Among older adults, about half say they’re making payments with digital wallets about as often as before.
Digital wallets and digital payment platforms are used about as frequently to send payments to individuals, to make in-person purchases at businesses, and to make online purchases from businesses.
Read more about our polling methodology here.
Click through all the results in the interactive toplines below:
