Seventy-five per cent of millennial shoppers have exited a store without buying only to buy the item online, with 53 per cent of Gen X shoppers following suit, according to the 12th annual Global Shopper Survey from Zebra Technologies.
Thirty-nine per cent of consumers leave a store due to out-of-stock items according to the survey while 43 per cent of retail associates surveyed cited customer complaints about out-of-stocks as their biggest point of frustration.
Forty per cent of shoppers reported using self-checkout in the past six months, and 58 per cent of respondents agreed that self-checkout improves the customer experience.
Chasm between retail executive beliefs and customer experience
A chasm between the beliefs of retail executives and customers was also pinpointed in 77 per cent of executives believing customers are satisfied with their in-store experience and only 57 per cent of customers confirming this belief.
This extended to executives believing 80 per cent of shoppers are satisfied with the returns and exchanges process, but only 59 per cent being satisfied.
Retailers want to fix these issues through supply chain fixes and by providing store associates more agency beyond their register stations.
Omnichannel makes providing best customer service challenging
Zebra EMEA retail director Mark Thomson says that contrary to popular belief, brick-and-mortar stores still maintain a prominent role in the shopping environment but that the complexity of omnichannel retail has made providing the best customer service more challenging than ever.
“Zebra’s latest Shopper Vision Study highlights EMEA consumers still prefer to shop in a physical store as the majority state they enjoy experiencing the physical product (55 per cent), as well as product availability (46 per cent) and the instant gratification of being able to buy it now (38 per cent). In the past month, 61 per cent of EMEA shoppers have visited a physical store but ended up purchasing the item online instead, with the biggest reason being that the store ran out-of-stock.
“A clear example of this problem lies in retailers desire to keep up with rising delivery expectations by fulfilling digital orders and returns with same-day delivery, click and collect or in-store collection services from their store locations.”
Technology investments in mobile solutions too have proved popular among executives and store associates.
For further information, including information on software to keep physical stores relevant and key regional findings, visit: https://connect.zebra.com/Shop2020_NA?tactic_type=PRP&tactic_detail=RT_RSS2020_None_APAC_AU
