An integrated study of shopping behaviors has identified a new breed of consumer; the “XTreme shopper”. They don’t just buy a lot online, they are smart about it.

According to GfK Consumer’s Future Buy study, 31% of Americans are in this category of consumers, signaling what the company says is a new “shopping culture.”

The “XTreme shopper” is a research junkie, using all sorts of information resources to control their shopping and purchase experience. The heaviest in-store and online shoppers, they see shopping as a challenge and will put in the hard yards in order to win. Online shopping sites and related tools are skyrocketing among these XTreme shoppers, forcing a shift in retailers’ online shopping strategies including an emphasis on developing online marketplaces.

Future Buy says it has identified nearly 30 shopper-initiated touchpoints across multiple channels including online, in-store, word-of-mouth, mobile, direct mail, and TV.

Future Buy findings also reveal that the “XTreme shopper” is not a niche segment but rather a nationwide emergence with representation across all demographics. The report says this new shopping culture is an extraordinary departure from the marketer-controlled push-pull concept of the past and includes information regarding the role of emotion among the new breed of shoppers.

The inaugural GfK Future Buy study was based on a variety of sources including shopper tracking studies and a core online survey of 2,000 American adults, aged 18 and up, identified as their household’s primary shopper.