Recently published consumer research finds consumer appetite for interactive online browsing, instore kiosks and social engagement
Recently published consumer research finds consumer appetite for interactive online browsing, instore kiosks and social engagement
E-commerce provider GSI Commerce recently launched its ‘Multichannel Fashion Report,’ which looked at consumer attitudes to shopping.
The research, which surveyed 2,000 UK consumers, reflects how the online shopping experience has dramatically changed over the past decade, as brands better understand how best to engage with different audiences over multiple channels.
Key findings include almost 90% of consumers feel retailers could do more to attract them to their websites, while 54% of consumers that engage in a retailer's social media platform subsequently changed their perception of that brand. And third of consumers use social and mobile channels to directly contact and complain to brands.
Optimising online opportunities
Despite the fact that shopping online is set to rival the High Street as the consumer's shopping preference, the report found e-commerce channel opportunities remain unlocked. Increasingly, consumers are using their internet browser for window shopping before they visit the High Street, with shoppers taking an integrated approach to their purchasing habits.
Ultimately what consumers find online can determine whether they will visit a retailer's High Street store, highlighting how significant the channel is. Given that 71% of women surveyed 'window shop' online, the potential for translating browsing into actual sales is immense.
Online shopping is proving popular for the convenience and flexibility it offers. Of those surveyed, 27% said that they preferred shopping online because of the choice, 10% because the delivery options are broader and more adaptable and 7% because the features, service and product information available on a retailer's website is better than instore.
Increasing online dwell time
When it comes to online, the report said best practice lies in establishing what most entices consumers to stay longer on-site, as opposed to taking their business to a competitor. Retailers must now take notice of what consumers are looking for when they visit their websites, taking on board customer feedback and tailoring their sites based on customer insights to optimise sales.
For example, the report results found that over half (56%) of consumers interested in online fashion outlets, liked being able to filter searches by size, colour and price over any other product feature. Conversely, value retailers must ensure that customer views and opinions are given a public platform on their websites. The results showed that, for these retailers, 46% of their consumers said other customers' reviews and feedback was one of the key factors in making a purchasing decision.
Hosein Moghaddas, international vice president and managing director of GSI Commerce, commented: “The online fashion buying boom is long overdue, primarily due to the problem that consumers had with not being able to touch and feel items by buying online. However, it’s clear that fashion retailers have pulled out all the stops to eliminate this issue by installing features including advanced zoom facilities, interactive catwalks and 360-degree rotation options. Most of the leading fashion brands now have these options widely available, and it appears to have worked.”
Appetite for instore kiosks
One initiative favoured by 42% of the consumers that the survey revealed was to see more online kiosks within multichannel fashion retailers’ stores, which allowed them to browse a brand's entire product range and select delivery options and times from the shopfloor.
Investing in new social and mobile channels will also prove rewarding for retailers, according to the report results. Despite being in its infancy, social shoppers that did interact with any fashion retailer’s Facebook page, more than two thirds (67%) stated that they do so more than five times a day. Social forums have been identified as a primary way for consumers to search retailers latest offers (49%) and to enter competitions (48%), with these shoppers going on to share these deals within their own networks.
In addition, over half (54%) of these social shoppers believe conversations they have had on a brand's fan page of a social media platform changed their perception of a brand. This was more the case for male consumers, where 68% of respondents said that their perception of fashion retailer is more likely to be changed through social and mobile engagement than that of female customers (46%).
Getting socially involved
Social channels have also been identified as an important way for consumers to interact and feedback directly to brands, with a third of respondents saying they were using it as a means of getting a direct answer to questions or complaints.
Moghaddas added: “It is now imperative that fashion retailers give shoppers the same shopping experience at every level. In this ‘omnichannel’ era, where the consumer is king, it is of no consequence to your audience which channel they use, or whether a retailer is out of stock of an item in one store. Brands now have everything at their disposal to make sure that their customer’s shopping experience is completely synchronised, regardless of where they are searching.”
