Online shopping
It's clear that U.S. consumers have shifted they way they shop, and now retailers are vying for time on all their customers’ devices – before, during and after a purchase.
That's according to the recently released The State of Retailing Online 2017: Key Metrics, Business Objectives and Mobile report by the National Retail Federation’s Shop.org division and Forrester.
Forrester forecasted that in 2016 direct online sales totaled 11.6 percent of total U.S. retail sales ($394 billion), but digital touch points actually impacted an estimated 49 percent of total U.S. retail sales.
In response, this year, retailers are focusing on several key areas to enhance customer experiences across all touch points, growing their business for the long term.
For example, 54 percent of retailers note that mobile is one of their top initiatives in 2017, including conducting marketing (46 percent), site merchandising (42 percent) and omni-channel efforts (22 percent).
“Smartphones are driving retail sales more than ever, and retailers have found that even modest investments in mobile initiatives can result in huge returns,” said NRF Vice President for Digital Retail Artemis Berry. “This is no longer a new way to reach customers, but it has certainly become a highly effective method and one that boosts the level of customer engagement across the brand.”
Among retailers surveyed, smartphones, on average, made up 30 percent of online sales and 47 percent of online traffic. Sales made on smartphones were up an average of 65 percent, year-over-year.
The study found that most retailers are foregoing flashy emerging technology such as virtual and augmented reality, and instead are investing in customer experience.
Forty-five percent of retailers surveyed said mobile initiatives transformed their overall digital customer experience. At the top of the list is customer service, which retailers said they will invest more into next year. Features include live chat, which offer an opportunity to connect with their customers.
“Today’s customers are empowered with information and technology,” said Forrester VP and Research Director Fiona Swerdlow. “To grow, retailers know they have to operate with a customer-obsessed mindset to deliver the experiences that consumers now expect at every touch-point. It’s about having all aspects of the business – stores, mobile, merchandising, customer service, fulfillment and more – work together to deliver total value to your customers wherever they are, at any time.”
You can assist your "retail customers" by helping them make the most of technology through application of mobile access portals and web-sites and shopping carts, and Epayment solutions.
Of course, integration of those touch points into their overall accounting and order fulfillment channels is an essential component of expanding the role of ProAdvisors into trusted "retail" specialists.