A global study ‘Digital Shopper Relevancy’ by IT company Capgemini says over half of digital shoppers feel retailers are not consistent in the way they present themselves across channels.
Sixty per cent of the 16,000 digital shoppers across 16 developing and mature markets surveyed expect convergence of retail channels by 2014, when a unified shopping experience is expected to become the norm.
The survey demonstrated that shoppers are not loyal to one channel but expect a seamless integration across online, social media, mobile and physical stores.
The study also reveals that developing countries leapfrog mature markets in their consumption of new channels. Across all markets, digital shoppers predict physical stores will evolve to become 'showrooms' to select and order products by 2020.
Mature Vs developing markets
The number of digital-savvy shoppers increases considerably in developing markets and they tend to ‘leapfrog’ traditional retail infrastructure adopted by mature markets. 72 percent of respondents from India and 69 percent from China state that they purchase more products in a single transaction online than in a physical store, compared with just 31 percent from the US.
James Roper, CEO of IMRG (Interactive Media In Retail Group), the UK's industry association for e-retail said, "That e-commerce is continuing to secure its position as a key part of any developed economy is already understood, but its role in developing economies is probably less well known. From our own extensive international research we see the remarkable opportunities for cross-border growth in regions such as Asia and South America, where e-commerce is experiencing a different evolution to that in Europe and North America. As the traditional IT infrastructure was not necessarily there, digital commerce in these regions tends to be going straight onto the mobile platform."
Channels
While 80 percent of respondents in developing markets said the internet was important or very important as the digital shopping channel, this number was 63 percent in mature markets. This is closely followed by e-mail interaction. However, channels such as social media, mobile apps and in-store kiosks are growing in popularity as alternative retail channels, according to the study.
The research was conducted in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Read the full report here:
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