Advancing technologies are putting more pressure on retail marketers to improve their customer experiences, and new research from WBR Insights finds retailers are not prepared to support the next wave of technologies like AI, Chatbots and AR as part of their mobile engagement strategy.
In a survey of 100 senior retail executives, only 9 percent said they were able to support these features, while more than half (52 percent) are not. The greatest barriers to their implementation: budget (64 percent, the lack of internal resources (55 percent) and the lack of executive buy-in (42 percent), according to the report from WBR Insights, the custom research division of Worldwide Business Research.
Created in cooperation with retail-solution providers Arm© Treasure Data and mobile marketing platform Vibes, the report, How New Tech is Creating Seamless Mobile Shopping Experiences, seeks to understand the issues and opportunities that are top of mind for retailers in regards to their overall mobile customer retention and engagement strategies.
Additional key findings include:
- The retailers surveyed felt that mobile payments (60 percent), AI and chatbots (48 percent) and on-demand same day services (47 percent) have the most potential for improving the mobile e-commerce experience for consumers.
- Augmented reality (27 percent). voice recognition technology (25 percent), and progressive web apps (PWA; 22 percent) are the technologies that most retailers are actively evaluating for implementation in the next 12-24 months.
“Consumers want the ability to seamlessly browse for and buy products at their convenience, so it’s no surprise that mobile payments and on-demand services are at the top of retailers’ technology wish list,” said Andrew Greissman, research director for WBR Insights, in a news release. “As consumers continue to demand more information and flexibility from their mobile shopping experience, technologies like voice recognition and augmented reality will become must-haves for engagement.”
