Shoppers are very interested in wi-fi and location-based in-store services, such as mobile coupons (51%), shopping maps (45%) and associate assistance (41%), according to the eighth annual installment of the Zebra Technologies Corp.Global Shopper Study.
“As online and mobile shopping become more prevalent and accepted worldwide, the importance of the customer experience remains high—as noted by the majority of respondents who would buy more merchandise from retailers they believe provide better customer service," said Nick D’Alessio of global retail solutions development for Zebra Technologies. "Mobile technology helps provide real-time visibility of product availability, flexible delivery and payment options—freeing retailers to focus on the shopper experience and delivering personalized service to customers.”
The study identified that 34% of shoppers believe they are better connected to real-time information than in-store associates. Meanwhile, 64% of shoppers would be willing to purchase more merchandise if they received better customer service; and 5% value retailers who use technology to make the shopping experience more efficient. Furthermore:
- 76% of shoppers feel positive about shopping in stores and nearly one-half think that technology solutions are helping retailers enable and improve their shopping experience
- 52% of shoppers “show-roomed” or looked at items in-store but purchased them online
- More than three in 10 shoppers would prefer to go to a retail store to pick up items purchased via online or mobile channels
- Retailers can recover 66% of out-of-stock incidents by offering shoppers an immediate discount
- Nearly eight in 10 respondents are willing to share some level of information with retailers—though retailers rank low on the list of institutions that shoppers trust with personal data
- 65% of shoppers value retailers who give the flexibility to control how personal information is used to tailor experiences
Nearly 2,000 shoppers in Australia, Canada, China, England, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Singapore, Thailand and the United States were surveyed for the Global Shopper Study.
[Image: Zebra Technologies]