Online shopping saw its biggest drop in over a decade as tariffs spook consumers, survey says

Tariffs on imported goods are impacting U.S. consumers’ online shopping habits, but the effects they’re having varies widely, a new report surveying consumer behavior found.

Roughly one-third of online shoppers said they’ve delayed purchases until they have certainty related to costs from tariffs, while 28% said they bought items earlier than planned over the prior six months to not have to pay extra costs, consulting firm AlixPartners found in its 2025 Home Delivery Report released Tuesday. Twenty-two percent of people surveyed said they’ve delayed or curbed their online purchases coming directly from overseas. 

Other consumers have taken a completely different approach to the tariff environment. One-fifth of respondents said they’re buying more items online shipped directly from abroad to skirt tariff costs and 20% said they’re trying to buy more items made in the U.S. Roughly one-quarter of respondents said tariffs haven’t affected their online shopping habits.

Consumers’ changing approaches to online shopping in response to tariffs come as they’re also just buying less in general. AlixPartners found that consumers are making fewer online purchases in every sector outside of groceries, the first time that’s happened since the firm started its survey in 2012. Consumers’ online purchases dropped by at least 10% points in cosmetics, office and home-office supplies, sporting goods, furniture, home furnishing, and large electronics. In the food category that includes groceries and frozen food, they held steady.

Those sentiments jive with recent economic data showing consumer trepidation. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment survey for June climbed 16% from the month prior, but the measure was still lower than in December before President Trump was inaugurated, we reported. June’s increase was also notably coming off of the May numbers, which showed consumer sentiment was at its second-lowest point in the history of the survey which began in 1946. June’s results showed that Americans were worried about tariff-driven inflation as well as an economic slowdown.

U.S. household debt balances in the first quarter of this year also hit $18.2 trillion when taking into account debt from mortgages and credit cards along with student, auto and personal loans, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported. That being said, debt levels relative to income are at their lowest in decades.

While consumers might not be buying as much online, when they do, the prospect of free shipping matters more than ever, AlixPartners also found in its polling. More than three-quarters of online consumers said free shipping “greatly impacts” their buying decisions, the firm said, the highest percentage since the AlixPartners started its survey in 2012. That measure is up 10 percentage points from the prior year, while the percentages of respondents saying it either somewhat or doesn’t affect their buying decisions declined.

Generationally, however, that data doesn’t break down like you might think. Generation Z, a group of consumers who at most are 28 years old, cares a lot less than older generations about how long it takes a package to arrive. AlixPartners found that 21% of Gen Z members would take their business somewhere else if a seller doesn’t meet their shipping expectations. One-third of Millennials said as much, while 37% of people part of both Generation X and the Baby Boomer generation agreed.

AlixPartners conducted its survey online in late May and early June, polling U.S. adult consumers across the country.