Recent rapid developments in technology have provided retailers with a wave of consumer insights that can be used to deliver shopping experiences that connect all brand interactions, including online, in-store and mobile. The opportunity to create hyper-personalized, highly convenient touchpoints across channels offers a wide range of benefits that retailers can no longer ignore.
From geofencing technology that serves discounts when shoppers approach a store to beacons that offer personalized mobile notifications, what once seemed to be “Jetsons-like” retail experiences are approaching our doorstep. Yet despite the development of these technologies, most retailers are unable to leverage the potential of these innovations, as their first task is to fully blend the online and in-store experience. To do so, they must work to implement basic omnichannel features that consumers now expect and demand.
Retailers struggle to meet omni-channel expectations of today
In a recent study from Mozu, retailers indicate that they are struggling to achieve omnichannel integration, with only 31% of survey respondents stating they are either “Integrated” or “Fully Integrated.” Of even greater concern, 29% of respondents note that they “Have not considered omnichannel capabilities” as of October 2014, indicating a widening technology gap.
This lack of integration is of particular concern when compared to growing expectations from consumers who no longer see individual channels, but demand a consistent brand experience across touchpoints and devices. In the same Mozu survey, consumers were asked which online shopping capabilities they would like to see, providing the following responses listed in order of importance:
- Buy online, pick up in-store on same day
- Buy online, exchange in-store
- Same-day delivery
When asked what online shopping features they had used in the past six months, consumers indicated leveraging the following:
- Free returns and exchanges (57% indicated using this feature)
- Buy online, pick up in-store (50% indicated using this feature)
- Buy online, exchange in-store (41% indicated using this feature)
These findings indicate two major takeaways for retailers. First, consumers now use omnichannel capabilities in their daily lives, and second, with this many shoppers expecting this type of omnichannel integration, retailers that struggle to implement these experiences risk falling further behind the technology curve.
Laying the groundwork for closing the omnichannel gap
Surveyed retailers indicate their top barriers to implementing new technologies to meet today’s consumer demands include a lack of financial resources, difficulty implementing back-end technology and a lack of training and education among their employees. As these each serve as major roadblocks both individually and collectively, they can be show-stoppers for retailers.
To begin overcoming these obstacles to innovation, retailers are encouraged to create an action plan to close the gap, first identifying the key barriers that hold them back: Is it a lack of organizational support to invest in technology? A lack of internal knowledge to identify what tools and processes are required to implement new technologies? Both?
Once the barriers are identified, the next step is to find a team of contributors from various groups within the organization (IT, Marketing, Sales, Finance, etc.) who will champion the endeavor and secure resources. To help support the cause, this internal team should identify competitors that already utilize omnichannel capabilities and outline business risks if actions are not taken to offer the same features to shoppers. From there, retailers should find the right technology tools and the right partners to quickly implement, test and deploy these now-expected retail experiences.
Ready or not, the future of retail is coming. But before retailers and consumers can realize the exciting potential of what tomorrow’s technology holds, be it drone delivery or augmented reality, they must first master the delivery of experiences that consumers tell us they expect today, all of which can be achieved by bridging the omnichannel gap sooner rather than later.
Mozu is an e-commerce platform for midsized and larger retailers launched last year by Volusion Inc., which provides e-commerce technology for 15 of the Internet Retailer Top 1000 e-retailers in North America.
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