50% More Digital Shopping Days Put Parents at the Center of Retail’s Shift

Busy parents may be giving global digital commerce its clearest growth signal yet. The data makes a strong case for why merchants should pay attention.

That is one of the more actionable findings in “The 2025 Global Digital Shopping Index: The Rise of the Mobile Window Shopper and What It Means for Payments,” a PYMNTS Intelligence study commissioned by Visa Acceptance Solutions. The report documents mobile shopping as a mainstream retail behavior worldwide: 48% of consumers used a phone for their most recent purchase, and 60% browse merchant sites multiple times a week.

The more specific force shaping the market is parents. They engage in 50% more digital shopping activity days than the average consumer and shoppers with children under their care used a phone in 58.6% of their most recent purchases, compared with 40.7% for non-parents. Notably, the pattern holds across markets: even in countries where digital adoption is less intense overall, parents remain highly engaged mobile shoppers.

That gives merchants a concrete playbook. The research shows these consumers gravitate toward clear payment choices, rewards, coupons, product details and easy-to-navigate stores. The implication is pointed: the next phase of digital growth may come less from new features than from eliminating the friction that slows someone down between school drop-off, work and dinner.

Convenience, the data suggests, is no longer an amenity. It is becoming the product itself.

Three numbers stand out:

59% of the days parents shop digitally, they make a purchase, showing that this group is not just browsing more often. They are converting at a higher rate.

Shoppers with children under their care logged 63.5 digital shopping days per month, versus a 50.9 average across the full sample.

2% of shoppers used or wanted to use their preferred payment method at the merchant where they made their last purchase, making payment choice the top digital feature globally.

The broader message is upbeat for merchants willing to adapt. Mobile shopping is growing, but physical retail is still in the mix, with 73% of purchases across the eight countries still involving stores in some way.

That gives retailers room to improve both digital and in-store experiences at the same time. The opportunity is especially clear for businesses that make it easier to browse on a phone, save payment credentials securely and move from discovery to checkout without extra steps. For time-pressed shoppers, especially parents, that kind of simplicity is not a perk. It is a reason to come back.