U.S. Retailers Struggling To Meet Consumer Expectations Around Mobile And In-Store Experience, Accenture Study Finds
March 25 2015 - 7:03AM
Business Wire
Seamless approach remains a tall order for
many, as retailers continue to lack critical capabilities
U.S. retailers must move quickly to improve their operational
capabilities in order to deliver a “seamless retail” experience to
customers who say their expectations are not being met, according
to new research by Accenture (NYSE:ACN). For the second consecutive
year, two studies of “seamless retailing” indicate a number of gaps
between consumer expectations related to product offerings and
pricing and the ability of retailers to deliver what customers
want, as they shop across a growing number of channels.
A survey of 750 U.S. consumers and a separate analysis of how
U.S. retailers operate across multiple sales channels indicate
that, in order to win consumer loyalty and achieve growth across
all channels, retailers must enhance their mobile commerce
offerings and improve the in-store shopping experience. Only 42
percent of shoppers found it easy to complete a purchase using a
mobile device, and when asked which aspect of the shopping
experience is most in need of an upgrade, 39 percent ranked the
physical store first, showing that retailers have not made much
progress in these categories since last year’s survey.
The research also found that a number of mobile capabilities
that can enhance seamless retailing for customers remain
underdeveloped. For example, while all of the U.S. retailers
assessed as part of Accenture’s benchmarking analysis have mobile
optimized websites, only 53 percent have optimized their websites
for tablets.
According to the consumer survey, respondents said they would
like to access services via their mobile phones while shopping
in-store. More than a third (39 percent) said that they would
take advantage of the opportunity to earn loyalty points and save
money on their purchases through in-store mobile phone offers, and
45 percent would like to receive real-time promotions sent to their
phones or tablet. Yet, only 28 percent of retailers currently have
the capability to deliver that service.
This gap between consumers’ desire for mobility services and the
current levels of provision from retailers is further reinforced by
the 32 percent of respondents who said the second biggest
improvement retailers need to make in the consumer shopping
experience is to enable the use of all three sales channels –
physical store, online and mobile – in an integrated
way. However, tablet and mobile phone users are able to start
shopping on their devices and complete the cycle in-store with only
22 and 19 percent of retailers, respectively.
When asked specifically about the improvements that are needed
to enhance the in-store experience, survey respondents cited easy
ordering of out-of-stock merchandise (19 percent) and free Wi-Fi
(15 percent). In addition, more than one-third (36 percent) said
they would order out-of-stock items via their mobile phone while
in-store if they had that option.
“Physical and digital commerce are converging at an incredible
pace,” said Dave Richards, global managing director of Accenture’s
Retail practice. “The fact that many consumers use their mobile
devices to check inventory availability while on their way to a
store and are looking for real-time promotions to be sent to their
phones means retailers have an opportunity to capitalize on the
power of these devices. By investing in mobile applications and
frictionless digital payment tools that incorporate loyalty,
coupons and rewards in-store, retailers can provide a seamless
bridge between customers’ online and offline experiences. All sales
channels must be equally desirable to the consumer, so that the
path to purchase is not chosen based on satisfaction in one channel
over another, but simply on what is most convenient at that
time.”
Consumers Demand Transparency, Consistency and Convenience
Across Channels
The surveys also found growing consumer expectations for
transparency and consistency in pricing. An overwhelming majority
(82 percent) of survey respondents expect a retailer’s prices to be
the same in-store and online, a significant increase on the 69
percent last year. However, Accenture’s benchmarking analysis of
retailers indicated that only one-third (34 percent) had the same
pricing in-store and online for more than 80 percent of the items
assessed.
Furthermore, the survey indicated that retailers who don’t have
the right online presence and pricing are at risk of losing sales
once a physical store closes for the day. If access to a physical
site is not possible, 15 percent of consumers indicated they would
shop around online for the best price, rather than buy from the
original retailer online or wait to go back to the store, an
increase from nine percent over last year’s survey.
Shipping and Delivery: Free Continues to Outweigh
Fast
The survey points to continued price sensitivity, especially
when it comes to shipping:
- Fifty-seven percent of consumers said
they would be willing to wait between four and seven days for free
delivery.
- Consumers are willing to wait even
longer for free delivery: 29 percent would wait eight days or more,
compared to 23 percent who said the same last year.
- At the same time, 26 percent of
respondents said they would be willing to pay $10 or more for
same-day delivery for an item they need urgently, 13 percent would
pay extra for next-day delivery and 22 percent would consider
paying $20 or more for delivery within two hours.
Scheduling capabilities are important to shoppers:
- More than half the survey respondents
(55 percent) think that scheduling a delivery from retailers is
important; 11 percent said they would be more interested in
scheduling a pickup at a collection point and scheduling a delivery
during peak than scheduling within a one-hour delivery window
(cited by four percent).
- When it comes to order fulfilment, 20
percent of shoppers said they have increased the use of the pickup
in-store option this year.
- Forty-six percent of consumers said
that consolidating an order into one delivery rather than multiple
deliveries is “extremely” or “very” important.
“Our findings highlight a clear gap between the cohesion
consumers expect from their shopping experience and what they seem
to be getting. This suggests it is time for retailers to rethink
their investment approach as they look to drive sales,” said
Richards. “It is critical for retailers to build the capabilities
such as digital marketing and analytics that will enable them to
tap into the core strengths of the physical store and seamlessly
integrate with the rest of their digital offerings. The winners
will be those most successful at transitioning their online
visitors into in-store purchasers and vice versa.”
Methodology
Accenture conducted an online survey of 750 U.S. adult consumers
to understand consumer preferences to shop seamlessly across
channels and the ability of retailers to deliver that seamless
experience.
Retailer Benchmarking Study: The Retailer Capabilities Benchmark
Study was conducted by a team of Accenture Retail consultants and
covered 32 retailers in the U.S. among the 189 globally. The
consultants benchmarked retailers using a list of 150 questions to
assess the breadth of their multichannel offering and different
capabilities.
About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services
and outsourcing company, with approximately 319,000 people serving
clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled
experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and
business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most
successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help
them become high-performance businesses and governments. The
company generated net revenues of US$30.0 billion for the
fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2014. Its home page
is www.accenture.com.
Burson-MarstellerNancy Goldstein, + 1 212 614
4827nancy.goldstein@bm.comorAccentureAnthony Hatter, + 44 207 844
5525anthony.hatter@accenture.com
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