In-store shopping behaviours and expectations are changing. Today’s consumers want more information and a customised experience when they’re in-store. That’s why, according to recent research undertaken by DigitasLBi, 72% of consumers use their smartphone in-store and why 42% happily make use of in-store multimedia shopping aids.

The Connected Commerce study highlight how digital presents new opportunities for retailers to connect with shoppers and deliver an integrated digital and physical shopping experience that’s as personal as the online shopping experience itself.

The digital opportunity

Today’s connected shoppers are proving highly adept at using their mobile phone to facilitate the in-store shopping journey. The Connected Commerce research reveals almost 40% of consumers use a mobile shopping app, with over 50% using their smartphones to search for information online while in-store.

Consumers no longer expect to visit a store simply to make a purchase. Today’s shoppers increasingly take it for granted they will find in-store the same services available to them online - and expect experiences as exciting, useful and personal as the online shopping experience itself.

All of which goes some way to explaining why 42% of consumers around the world have embraced the use of in-store multimedia shopping aids – with 14% saying these aids have played a decisive part in a buying decision they have made. Chinese shoppers proved even more enthusiastic, with 73% confirming they’ve used digital in-store technologies and 36% saying these helped trigger their decision to transact.

Breaking down the barriers

Today’s shoppers want an informed, customised and all-channel experience that takes the shopping experience to another level. A staggering 95% of Chinese consumers, for example are willing to receive personalised offers while shopping in-store, while 78% of German consumers are willing to use a mobile app to locate the products they need in a supermarket.

The Connected Commerce study also reveals how mobile is proving a game changer for the physical retail environment. Today’s consumers are happy to use loyalty cards on their mobile phone and are comfortable using their phone to check stock availability or organise their shopping lists. And when it comes to payment, 53% of shoppers in Denmark confirmed they’d pay for in-store purchases via their mobile phone while 44% of Dutch consumers wanted the store sales assistant to process payments via a portable tablet without having to go to the cash desk.

Shoppers are also excited by the latest technology innovations; 75% of shoppers in Singapore said they’d try on clothes virtually using a digital mirror while 63% of Italian consumers would use an interactive store window display to shop when a store is closed. What’s more, 48% of American consumers said they’d happily use a system that identifies them in-store in return for advantages like discounts and offers.

The showrooming effect

Retailers are increasingly concerned by the emergence of showrooming – a practice where consumers visit a store to examine and test a product in person before purchasing it elsewhere. While one-in-three respondents participating in the Connected Commerce study said a price difference of at least 5% would make them leave the store, as we’ve seen, consumers who have used in-store media said these aids influenced their purchase decision.

What’s more, retailers could use mobile to deliver a personalised ‘on the spot’ offer to incentivise the purchase of product viewed in-store. And in-store sales advisors, armed with technologies that enhance their awareness of consumer wants and needs would be able to manage showrooming behaviours, intervening to save the sale by offering price matching or in-store discounts.

Today’s connected customers are savvy and have high expectations when it comes to connected digital and real world experiences. Today’s shoppers want more, not less, from their in-store experience and an all channel fully integrated in-store/digital retail experience makes it possible for retailers to engage with technology enabled shoppers – the moment they step foot in-store.

 

By Jim Herbert, Managing Partner at DigitasLBi Commerce. 

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