For all the attention pouring onto AI, conversational commerce, and voice-activated devices, the most pervasive behavioral change in commerce – how shoppers are really changing their habits – is online research before purchase. Forty-Seven percent of consumers are conducting their own product research, often in-store while shopping, making the decision to purchase in advance of the shopping cart. The merchants and service providers who win this battlefield today will survive the physical retail death spiral already underway. #TruthInData
