84% of consumers are willing to spend more with brands that deliver a great online experience Retailers have faced an unprecedented digital transformation in the last two years. And it has brought increased number of customers into their screens. 84 percent of consumers today are willing to spend more money with brands that deliver a better experience. They expect exceptional digital experience across all devices and all channels, and they’re more willing to switch brands, since more choices are just a click away. In the past year, 40 percent of consumers explored new brand or made purchase with new retailers. And up to 10 percent switched brands due to relevant messages or promos in their preferred channel. If you are a retailer and want to keep your brand growing in 2022, this is the wish-list you need to fulfil: Mobile Shopping Mobile shopping is growing faster than ever. Smartphones are on track to contribute to more than 40 percent of online spend by September 2022. And the use of mobile payment is set to grow by 27 percent through 2025. Despite this, many retailers continue to report high levels of mobile traffic combined with lower conversion rates. This happens because mobile purchases are often disrupted by complicated, multi-step forms and a checkout process designed for desktop users. This less-than-ideal buying experience leads consumers to window-shop on their mobile devices but make actual purchases elsewhere. For retailers, improving the mobile experience is one of the fastest paths to accelerating growth. 2. More flexible payment options Buy now, pay later. When shoppers use it, they’re likely to spend more. Orders placed using BNPL are 18 percent larger than orders placed with other payment methods. For retailers, adding flexible payment methods such as BNPL can increase average order value (AOV). If you have a flexible e-commerce platform that works with many different payment providers, adding BNPL and other flexible payment methods like digital wallets should be fairly easy. 3. BOPIS – Buy online, Pick up in store Adobe research suggests that 30 percent of online consumers prefer BOPIS or curb-side over delivery. Due to consumers who work at home and can run short errands during the day. In 2021, this change in behaviour resulted in consumers spending an extra $1.2 billion during work hours. However, since working from home appears to be a lasting trend, retailers should be prepared to keep curbside pickup and other forms of BOPIS easily available—and even make it better. If you don’t already offer BOPIS, now is the time to add it. Ideally, your e-commerce platform should offer a variety of flexible fulfilment options If you don’t already offer BOPIS, now is the time to add it. Ideally, your e-commerce platform should offer a variety of flexible fulfilment options as well as the ability to integrate with third-party fulfilment apps and your point-of-sale (POS), order management (OMS), and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. These integrations will allow you to source products efficiently while keeping inventory and product availability information up to date 4. Personalised customer experience Today’s consumers are easily frustrated by a one-size-fits-all customer experience. More than 70 percent say that one of their biggest frustrations is repeating themselves multiple times when interacting with brands. And lack of personalisation makes 64 percent of consumers “feel like a ticket number” when they ask for help. To please today’s consumers, retailers must infuse all aspects of their experience—from email outreach to digital commerce to in-store shopping—with an intelligent, personal touch. This can include personalised content, product recommendations, and special offers. Ideally, all interactions with every customer should be informed by their history with your brand and where they are in the buyer’s journey. 5. Augmented reality Even before the pandemic, consumers were intrigued by mobile augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). Already, more than one-quarter of US adults have used these technologies—and of those who have, nearly half use them at least weekly. Since the pandemic, AR and VR have become a fixture in online retail. A growing number of housewares, home improvement, and health and beauty retailers are inviting customers to try out their products virtually. In fact, consumers are coming to expect AR experiences like virtual makeup counters, fitting rooms, and show rooms—and starting to judge brands that don’t provide them. AR experiences are also evolving quickly. Virtual pop-up stores, virtual fitting rooms that “bring” you clothes based on your preferences, and social shopping experiences in virtual environments are just a few of the innovations that some retailers already deliver. Adobe, 2021. The retail experience wish list, digital edition.
