Shoppers are resetting their behaviors, expectations and loyalties in large numbers today. Shifts like these produce tipping points, so, in partnership with Cognizant, we sought to find out how consumers are changing priorities about shopping expectations and IT strategies that serve them. Adding shopper sentiment to technology research closes a huge gap in the due diligence process for strategic IT planning.
We sought answers to questions about shopper likes and dislikes, the impact of cross-channel capabilities, the emergence of mobility, and what are the true drivers of retail loyalty.
To get these answers we surveyed 2,243 shoppers in May, which revealed insights into new opportunities that smart retailers will explore. To get a detailed version of the “First Annual 2010 Shopper Experience Study: Changing Priorities, Resetting Expectations”,
click here.
Identifying Key Expectations
One interesting revelation comes from shopper expectations in the use of in-store mobility. Many store strategists believe the mobile platform’s most productive use will be as transaction medium, even adding POS checkout functionality to a consumer’s mobile phone.
But our research says not so fast: Shoppers don’t want to use their devices (yet) as a transaction tool. Traditional in-store capabilities like product comparison, price checking, coupon access and store locators turn out to be more important as mobile-use drivers.
Cross-channel demands turn out to be more expansive than expected. Yes, familiar expectations for “buy online and pick-up in-store” dominate. But new cross-channel expectations, such as “buy in-store and deliver to home” or “buy online, deliver at home and return to store,” are emerging value drivers.
Another emerging expectation is in the area of cross-channel price, promotion and product information consistency. If you want to drive more traffic into your stores one way not to do it is to post different prices and offers online. Retailers should use this insight to make sure they are delivering an optimal customer experience.
Another major insight from the survey reinforces the impact of social media and sheds new light on it by revealing that shoppers do not expect retailers to create their own social media environments. Rather, they expect a meaningful and integrated social media retail experience though such popular platforms as Facebook.
CIO Becomes More Important
As a result of these findings, we believe the job of the retail CIO is resetting just as shopper expectations are resetting. The combination of new technologies and methods that access shopper demand signals and deliver marketing information all place the CIO and IT team at the forefront of today’s retail business strategy.
Technology more than ever is driving the transformation of shopper expectations. Business leaders are looking to the CIO for answers. We feel this represents an inflection point for CIOs to forge a different and more value-oriented relationship with the business and financial departments within the organization.
It is also a logical extension of the trend in customer-centricity that has gripped retailing in recent years and points to the dawning of customer-centricity 2.0. In this view, CIOs do not just ask how each IT strategy benefits the customer, instead the CIO asks the customer she wants.
What are her checkout or payment preferences, how does she use her mobile device in the store, what are her social retailing preferences, what does she dislike about the in-store shopping experience?
The answers to these questions are important to setting effective IT strategy, and that’s what we examine in this must-read study, which is focused on a short list of topic areas:
- How should a retailer to remedy an out of stock
- What is irritating about checking out
- Which cross-channel services are valued most
- Which social networks are preferred – independent or retailer hosted
- How valuable are live video customer service feeds in stores
- What do shoppers dislike most about in-store shopping
- How do they prefer to use their mobile devices
- How do they prefer to get product info
- Which payment methods are best
To get the answers to these questions, see detailed charts and read comprehensive analysis
click here.
This study will provide you with a unique tool to uncover hidden truths about shopper expectations and insight into which new capabilities retailers need to deploy to protect their turf and drive new sales.