Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is a summary of a current article from the Compete Blog. Compete Inc. is a web analytics company that focuses on understanding how consumers use the internet.
Consumers increasingly do not differentiate between store inventory and online inventory, meaning that retailers need to stop thinking about them as two separate entities. Accordingly to the latest Compete Online Shopper Intelligence study, more than one out of every three consumers indicate that they are extremely or very likely to research products online before purchasing them in a store.
At the same time, asked what would encourage them to purchase more products online, 54 percent indicated an in-store return option while 45 percent indicated an in-store pickup option.
Cost, convenience and the need for a tactile experience are the top reasons consumers research online, but purchase in a store, according to the study. While retailers can alleviate some of the cost and convenience hurdles with free and fast shipping or in-store pickup and returns, they cannot provide consumers with a tactile experience over the internet (or at least not yet). Making sure online inventory matches in-store inventory as well as making sure product information on websites is accurate becomes more critical in looking to convert online shoppers into in-store purchasers.
Finally, retailers need to understand how consumer cross channel behavior varies by category. Electronics top the list when looking at the tendency to research online but purchase in a store, as more than half of the consumers surveyed in the study said they would do so. Home related products -- kitchen, home furnishings and home improvement -- round out slots 2 - 4 at about 40 percent of shoppers stating they research online before purchasing offline.
Retailers selling these categories need to think of every online shopper as a potential in-store customer. It would also be strategically prudent of these retailers to make sure they are present on "Where to Buy" lists on third party sites so that they do not miss out on in-market consumers.
Discussion Questions: What are the best ways for retailers to convert online browsers into in-store shoppers? For most retailers, what is most needed for improving the cross channel shopping experience?