With all the focus on the “journey” and the “experience” in brand and retail marketing these days, you’d think that communicators would be zeroing in on some substantial strategy for delivering better CX. But consumers sure don’t think this is happening, and according to new insights from ecommerce technology firm Bold Commerce, even most leading retailers (58 percent) admit that they’re not living up to expectations when it comes to bringing together digital and physical experiences.
The firm’s new report, Retail eCommerce In Context: The Next Iteration, conducted in partnership with technology consultancy RSR Research, offers a look into how enterprise brands are responding to the unforeseen growth of ecommerce. The report reveals, among other things, the key challenges and opportunities retailers face as they bring together the online and offline channels to improve shopper experiences and drive revenue growth. It also highlights the technology investments retailers are making to accelerate their digital commerce capabilities.
Key findings from the report include:
Digital as a whole is still in its infancy
Despite retailers’ massive shift to digital over the past year, 51 percent of large retailers say that digital channels still account for only 20 percent or less of their total revenue.
Retailers cannot innovate as fast as they want to
While 90 percent of retailers want to continuously innovate and rapidly test new customer experiences, forty-nine (49 percent) of retailers are held back by existing technologies that are hard to change, while forty-three (43 percent) of retailers say they lack the resources to do so.
Retailers are doubling down on their efforts to improve omnichannel experiences
The top two areas where retailers see opportunities to improve the online shopping experience are 1) having a unified view of inventory availability (49 percent) and 2) applying the same business rules (e.g. pricing, promotions) across all customer touchpoints (44 percent).
Retailers’ approaches to digital commerce investments are mixed
There is a relatively even split among retailers leaning towards investing in their existing technologies (40 percent), or adding additional solutions (31 percent), versus fully replacing their ecommerce platform (29 percent).
“Consumers are embracing shopping experiences that take place online across digital channels and in store, and they expect these worlds to connect seamlessly to one another,” said Deanna Traa, chief marketing officer at Bold Commerce, in a news release. “Retailers are looking for agile and flexible technology to help them in establishing complete omnichannel experiences that reduce shopper friction, deepen customer loyalty, and set them up for innovation and revenue growth from emerging digital commerce channels.”
Download the full report here.
The report was and based on survey responses from 105 large retailers across verticals, including 75 percent of those with revenues of over $1 billion.
