When a customer is unhappy with an experience on a retailer's website, then she is unhappy with the retailer. If the same consumer has a bad experience ordering from a catalog or in a company's store, she's unhappy with the retailer. The fact is that no matter how many different shopping venues consumers are given, when they are unhappy, that dissatisfaction extends to every part of the company.
A new report by Sterling Commerce concludes that consumers are looking for seamless shopping experiences and retailers are getting closer to giving them what they want.
"Shoppers see retailers as one brand - they don't think in terms of multiple channels," Jim Bengier, global retail industry executive for Sterling Commerce, said in a press release. "Shoppers don't care how difficult or challenging it is for retailers to organize their companies to meet their needs. This survey shows that retailers without cross-channel execution plans already in place will soon be left behind. But, there are opportunities to leapfrog the competition by automating cross-channel processes and achieving global order, shipment, and inventory visibility across all channels."
According to the research, 81 percent of retailers surveyed were either fully or partially integrated across all channels (catalog, kiosk, online and in stores) although many did not offer cross-channel services such as ordering a product online and picking it up at a store location.
Having cross-channel capabilities can help stores address out-of-stock issues and keep consumers from going to a competitor. Not having a product in stock in a store can be addressed if consumers are able to order at an in-store kiosk, over the phone or on a PC. Two-thirds of consumers surveyed by Sterling are looking to incorporate this ability by automating inventory across various businesses.
Two-thirds of the retailers surveyed indicated that they will be able to view inventory on-hand, in-transit, and available-to-promise through a single automated process within the next 12 months. Sixty percent are working on systems that will allow them to identify items in other stores that can address an out-of-stock on their own.
Discussion Questions: How critical is it that retailers integrate their various selling channels? What are the operational, technological and other steps that merchants must take to achieve the idealized seamless state of retailing?