Cybertill: Retail Trends Report 2019 – Inventory Edition
New Cybertill research reveals that a majority of UK high street retailers are potentially alienating last minute or mobile shoppers by not displaying any information about in-store stock availability on their websites.
61% of high street retailers don’t display in-store stock levels or availability by store on their websites(1) – a feature that 42% of adults in the UK want.(2)
Globally, mobile browsing is more popular than desktop, signifying that consumers are on the go, and using mobile devices more often to shop and browse. In addition, 73% of consumers still value physical stores for the immediacy of getting a product and not having to wait for delivery (2). Retailers can capture the on-the-go-shopper more easily by displaying stock levels by store online and offering same day collection. Retailers not offering this are potentially missing out on sales.
Cybertill conducted research into 140 high street retailers with more than 30 physical stores in the UK and found that a majority of retailers are not meeting consumer demands. Highlights from the research include:
- Only 36% of retailers show stock availability by store, and of those, 18% show exact item quantities by store(1)
- Only 16% of retailers offer same day collection, however 72% of those also offer an exact ‘available from’ time prior to checking out online(1)
- 87% of retailers don’t offer mobile users a ‘find near me’ geolocation option(1)
For Gen Z, real-time visibility of stock levels are significantly more important, with 59% of people in that demographic stating that they want real-time stock levels of nearby stores on retailer’s mobile app(2). Michael, a 21-year-old student from Liverpool said, “I’d like to see higher accuracy through a retailer’s app of stock levels to make it an easier shopping experience.” (3)
This research signifies that the store is still a very important part of the shopping journey, and that the role of websites is in part to drive footfall to stores, something that the majority of retailers are simply not doing.
Ian Tomlinson, founder and CEO of Cybertill says “Inventory management is a key component to omnichannel success. More specifically, real-time, multi-location stock control that is accurate and customer-facing, such as displayed on the front end of websites, apps, or shelf-edge labels. I believe that offering these services is achievable, and not just reserved for big-box retailers. We’ve done this research to bring attention to a largely untapped omnichannel opportunity, and one that could have a big impact on retailers’ bottom line.”
To download the report “Retail Inventory: Expectations vs Reality” here.
