While the debate rages on about whether online shopping is killing bricks-and-mortar retail, new research suggests that it’s a symbiotic relationship.
According to Adyen, the global payments firm, omnichannel shoppers, who regularly buy from a retailer both online and instore spend 15% more per purchase than those who shop just on one channel.
“What matters most is creating an experience that gives your customers the opportunity to choose,” said Myles Dawson, UK Managing Director of Adyen. “The data shows that if you do, your customers will spend more, and make purchases more often. Online channels will help drive footfall to physical stores and vice versa.”
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The report, the Unified Commerce Index, found that by providing a good omnichannel experience customer loyalty increases too as those that shop with retailers both online and offline spend twice as often as single-channel shoppers.
Globally, the impact of omnichannel retail is even higher, with those who shop across multiple channels spending 30% more per purchase.
Furthermore, four in five single channel purchases globally are made in-store, with 20% completed online. However, for omnichannel shopping, 60% of purchases are made in-store.
For the study, Adyen analysed data across its global payments platform, which processed €159 billion in transactions in 2018.
Failure to adapt
While these figures are promising, it’s worth remembering, overall, it’s a tough time for many retailers.
Last month’s Confederation of British Industry (CBI) Distributed Trades Survey revealed that retail sales volumes in the UK fell in the year to March, the largest fall in 17 months, marking a 4-month run in which sales have not grown.
Perhaps one of the reasons for this is because retailers are just not adapting to the omnichannel trend quickly enough. Last month, research from Exasol revealed more than half of UK retailers are still behind in adopting the data strategy necessary to provide a single customer view.
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Retailers must be able to deliver on modern customer expectations if they are ever going to stop sales declining. To do so, they must admit to themselves that omnichannel is easier said than done.
It is a job that requires a dedicated, totally focused individual that has the responsibility – and seniority – to integrate multichannel systems across all customer touch points: store operations, marketing, call centre, and digital (which includes all forms of non-store-based commerce). This is a tall order as in most organisations structures have evolved into fairly ingrained silos.
