New research: retailers playing catch-up with how shoppers want to interact with them
New research has shown that the retail sector is playing catch-up with how shoppers want to interact with them.
Savvy’s poll of 1,000 household decision makers, which was carried out on behalf of BBC Radio 4, looked at how shoppers are interacting with the retail world around them, the demands and behaviours of younger shoppers and what is coming up next.
Alastair Lockhart, insight director at Savvy, said: “The tech savvy generation have high expectations and retailers need to inspire shoppers both instore and online whilst providing all the necessary product information to help convert sales.”
The study found that around 95% of adults that have access to the internet have shopped online at least once in the past six months and nearly half of UK shoppers have shopped online at least once every two weeks.
Some 42% of shoppers said that a search engine such as Google had encouraged them to click through to a retailer’s website. The positioning of a retailer in Google’s search results was found to be critical and compared to having the prime spot on Oxford Street.
Furthermore, some 57% shoppers said easy returns made them more likely to shop online, yet only 37% had returned something to an online retailer in the past six months. 25 to 34 year olds were found to be the most likely to make returns due to their busy work and family lives.
For shoppers aged under 35, use of smartphones instore was found to be commonplace with people using them to check prices at competitors, send photos of products to friends, access social media and for 13% actually buying from an online retailer.
Around half of UK shoppers said they had shopped online using their smartphone – still some way behind the laptop, which was used by 76%. However, 74% of 18 to 24 year olds said they had used a smartphone to shop online.
Despite the convenience of online shopping, the research found around half of the respondents were more likely to shop impulsively instore than online. The research also revealed that shoppers aged under 35 were more likely to buy on impulse, especially clothing, and were more likely to buy quickly using their smartphones.
Only a fifth of UK shoppers said they believed that the high street/shopping centre closest to their home had improved in the past two to four years and nearly 40% though it had declined.
Meanwhile, 59% of shoppers said that they did not visit traditional stores as much as they used to because of online shopping. A similar proportion said online shopping had taken the buzz out of the high street and 79% thought physical retailers needed to do more to attract shoppers to their stores.
However, 91% thought there will always be a place for physical stores and 85% said that online retailers can never recreate the experience of shopping in a store. Around three-quarters of shoppers also still believe human interaction is important when shopping and there was a strong sense of nostalgia, with 42% saying shopping was better before online retailing was invested.
The research findings show that 75% of shoppers think they will do the majority of their shopping online in ten years’ time. Over the same period, 60% also think the high street will not exist as we know it.
The study showed that awareness of popular virtual reality headsets amongst shoppers is also increasing with a third of shoppers finding the idea of using virtual reality for retail appealing and this interest rose to 46% amongst 18 to 24 year olds. When asked about life in ten years’ time, 54% of respondents agreed that virtual reality will be commonplace in people’s homes – this rose to 62% amongst 25 to 34 year olds.
Lockhart concluded: “There’s no doubt about it, demographic shifts, improving technology and retail innovation will ensure the continuing growth of online retailing, but reassuringly, the high street and shopping centres will still have a role – albeit a different one – to play. The bottom line however, is that retailers can ill-afford to stand still and rely on a long standing customer base. Instead, they must evolve with the times and reinvent themselves.”
