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Consumer survey demonstrates that cross-channel retailing is now the 'cost of doing business'
Survey highlights major gaps in retailers' ability to meet multi-channel consumer expectations and drives the need for cross-channel solutions
Sterling Commerce has released the results of a recent survey that shows what consumers are looking for in a retailer and the ways they prefer to shop and research their purchases. The survey, conducted in July, polled more than 5,000 consumers to learn their online and in-store shopping habits. The findings demonstrate that retailers are at greater risk in meeting customers' expectations for a seamless experience across channels. Expectations have increased, and online experiences are influencing how customers behave when they visit a store.“As retailers ramp up for the biggest shoppin
With the number of channels through which consumers interact with retailers expanding — in-store, online, catalogue/call center, kiosk, special order, TV, mobile, etc. — consumers expect a more unified experience regardless of the type of channel or the number of channels accessed. The survey found that those expectations are increasing and demonstrates the gap between those expectations and what most retailers can now deliver. For example:
More than half of the respondents (57 per cent) want to return or exchange items at a store, regardless of how the item was purchased (online, in store or catalogue).
Sixty-five per cent of consumers expect to be able to cancel or modify an order via a store, the store's Web site or a call center regardless of which channel was used to initially place the order.
Another 55 per cent of consumers feel that it is important to be able to complete an order via a store, the store's Web site or a call center regardless of which channel was used to initially place the order.
The survey also demonstrated that consumers' online experiences are changing their expectations when they reach the store. For example:
Fifty-four per cent of consumers find that they can buy products online that are not available in stores, and 40 per cent likes the fact that products are usually in stock online.
Two-thirds of consumers appreciate the ability to research multiple products online at the same time, and nearly half of consumers (45 per cent) feel that they can obtain better product information online than in a store.
Only 21 per cent of shoppers will check another store within the same retailer chain for the item that is out of stock. Nearly half will look for the item at a competitor's store, 13 per cent will order it online instead and about 20 per cent will decide not to purchase it at all.
The survey provided some insight into how retailers can gain customer loyalty with customer-service based cross-channel solutions. For example:
Communication is key for online shoppers — 76 per cent of consumers think that notification of shipping and order fulfilment is very important to their online shopping experience.
Fifty-four per cent of consumers feel that if a retailer is out of an item, the retailer should locate the out-of-stock item at another location and ship it to the customer for free.
Providing availability information across channels will help increase customer satisfaction. Forty-three per cent of consumers find that sales associates are not able to check availability at the store or at other store locations, and 38 per cent of consumers state that sales associates cannot determine whether a given product is in stock.
Sterling Commerce solutions help retailers maximise top- and bottom-line performance by simplifying execution across multiple channels and complex global supply chains. These solutions include an end-to-end order capture/management solution that allows retailers to provide a differentiated cross-channel customer experience by enabling consumers to buy, pick up and return products anywhere. The company's best-of-breed supply chain fulfilment solutions drive operational excellence by enhancing visibility, optimising execution, accelerating exception recovery and dramatically improving the management of inventory, transportation and distribution assets. All Sterling Commerce solutions are based on a service-oriented architecture (SOA) and leverage the company's unparalleled experience in data integration and network management to streamline implementations, drive speed-to-benefit and enhance adaptability for future change.
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