This Interactive Review is a must for businesses who currently trade online or organisations that are considering investment v return of retailing online.
Tony Kane, Retail Specialist of Touchpoint Communications, summarises:
More and more shoppers are planning, researching and benchmarking products and services from the comfort of their own home, instead of planning their lives around:
- Store opening hours
- Parking
- Merchandise availability
- Weather
- Queues
"Encouragingly, customer confidence in internet shopping is reaching high levels of around 78% in online surveys; however US research by E-tailing group and software partner vendor Betweenmarkets reports that; of consumers recently interviewed; 68% would shop with a competitor if they encountered 3 'out of stocks' with a retailer."
"Interestingly a number of retail brands are choosing different strategies to increase business reach; Ocado announce plans to launch into Germany, Spain, France and the US given their successful experience in the UK interactive market, while Blue Nile the US jewellery retailer, plans to launch in Canada and the UK."
The review also covers multi-channel integration which can deliver a superior consumer experience more cost effectively. This area shows significant growth potential as channels converge, with customers choosing on-line benchmarking as an integral part of the shopping experience - viewing new product ranges and prices in the comfort of their own home before planning the shopping trip itself.
