Capgemini: Intensified Demand from Consumers for Seamless Shopping Experience

Rob Starr, Content Manager, Big4.com

A global report examining the changing nature of shoppers’ retail preferences as they continue to tap into the rapid innovation of traditional and digital channels has been released. The report, entitled “Digital Shopper Relevancy”, surveyed 16,000 digital shoppers across 16 developing and mature markets  and demonstrated that shoppers are not loyal to one channel but expect a seamless integration across online, social media, mobile and physical stores.

The Internet remains the dominant channel. Websites are the most important for digital shoppers across the end-to-end shopping journey in developing and mature countries, with 80 percent of respondents in developing markets stating the internet was important or very important and with 63 percent in mature markets. This is closely followed by e-mail interaction. However, channels such as social media, mobile apps and in-store kiosks are growing in popularity as alternative retail channels.

The study highlighted that 56 percent of respondents are likely to spend more money at a physical store if they had used digital channels to research the product prior to purchase, however 73 percent of respondents also expect online prices to be lower than those in physical stores. As well, 61 percent of respondents said they want online stores to remember their personal shopper history to speed up shopping, however only 41 percent would want to be identified through smartphones when entering a physical store.