A new report from consultancy firm Accenture says that retailers who deliver on their customers’ expectations and provide a seamless shopping experience – whether shopping in-store, online or via a mobile device – will gain a competitive advantage that drives sales. The research also reveals that consumers expect consistency across all channels, especially when it comes to price and promotions.
Based on a poll of 750 US consumers, the Accenture Seamless Retail Study found that 49% of consumers believe the best thing retailers can do to improve the shopping experience is to better integrate in-store, online and mobile shopping channels, whilst 89% said it is important for retailers to let them shop for products in a way most convenient for them.
Almost all respondents found in-store shopping easy, with three quarters reporting the same about their online shopping experience. However, only 26% found shopping via a mobile device to be straightforward.
Price remains the key determining factor in a consumer’s purchasing decision, with 72% of respondents putting it at the top of their list as the main motivator for an online purchase. The research also reveals that price consistency is key for a retailer to deliver a seamless shopping experience, with 73% of consumers expecting online pricing to be the same as a retailer’s in-store pricing and 61% expecting promotions to be the same across both channels.
The report further underlines the growing trend for showrooming, with 73% of respondents stating they had browsed in-store and purchased online. An even greater number of respondents (88%) said they had participated in ‘webrooming’ – browsing first on the Internet to research before buying in-store.
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Pricing intelligence company Profitero provides retailers with actionable price intelligence data, monitoring over 50 million products across 4,000 eCommerce retailers every day, observing pricing, promotions and stock availability. We work with the world’s leading retailers, enabling them to acquire new customers and grow profit margins by monitoring and responding to changes in competitor pricing and promotional activity as they happen. For more information on Profitero price intelligence and competitor monitoring, visit www.profitero.com or email sales@profitero.com
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