September 30, 2013
Surveys Say: Online Shopping Improves During Holidays
According to a new survey, a quarter of U.K. consumers feel that their online shopping experience is "significantly better" or "slightly better" during the holiday shopping period, thanks to special deals and a bigger range of products on offer. Just seven percent feel that it gets worse.
In comparison, almost half (42 percent) feel that their in-store experience deteriorates during the holiday. Crowded stores, long lines and limited number of staff to deal with requests were some of the main reasons.
The survey of 2,000 online consumers from eDigitalResearch and IMRG also found that almost all respondents (96 percent) will shop online this holiday period, with 48 percent purchasing at least half of their holiday gifts on the internet.
Of smartphone owners, 44 percent said they will consider doing some of their holiday shopping online. In 2010, only 35 percent of smartphone owners said that they would consider doing holiday shopping from their devices.
The 2013 UPS Pulse of the Online Shopper report, based on a survey of more than 14,000 consumers globally, also found rising satisfaction with the overall online shopping experience. U.S. consumers rated the online experience the highest at 83 percent.
The UPS survey, conducted by comScore and released last week, found that seven out of 10 of online consumers prefer accessing their favorite multi-channel retailers through a digital channel. Of those surveyed globally, 46 percent said they are less likely to comparison shop when using a mobile app, and 47 percent want a coupon/promotion sent to them because a retailer knows they are in-store or nearby.
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Discussion Questions
Why do you think consumers’ perception of the online shopping experience improves during the holiday selling season while many have the opposite view when it comes to the in-store experience? What does it mean for omni-channel retailers?
Poll
Retail stores offer 50% to 75% off sales during the holiday shopping season, but the crowds and lack of holiday spirit these days could be one reason people go online. Just the fact that so many shoppers use online at this time of year may be a factor in the survey, but the online retail and the omni-channel retailer also offer us a deal: free shipping. The ease of shopping from home, no shipping fee, and no crowds make for a better shopping experience.
The most obvious answer is that online shopping allows consumers to not experience all the negatives of physical holiday retail – crowds, bad weather, poorly trained, new hires, out-of-stocks, long lines, schleping packages through malls and in and out of cars, etc., etc.
While not confined to holidays, all of these potential negatives are exacerbated during the period.
Since I don’t believe there are many (if any) omnichannel retailers, (a phrase by the way that doesn’t translate in many languages, making its use uniquely dubious for global companies,) let me address how I think this impacts multichannel retailing.
And the answer is sort of a resounding, “Since it helps drive non in-store purchasing, it’s good for retailers with sophisticated digital options for their shoppers. Duh!.”
Obviously, if people prefer to shop online and/or through their mobile devices at holidays, this means retailers offering those options ought to do better during the period than those that don’t.
The only deterioration in service online is potentially slower sites. Otherwise, you’re completely unaware that there are thousands like you going after the same products. In store, it’s far more torturous. While retailers do staff up and change the way their lines are controlled, it’s typically not nearly enough to accommodate everyone.
Retailers are reaching a Rubicon moment when it comes to their stores. It’s easy to say “Eh, 90% of sales still culminate in stores, what’s all the blah, blah, blah about?” and point to the relatively low numbers that improve in double digits every year. But I am reminded of the grade school question, “Would you rather get a million dollars or a penny which doubles every day for a year?” When you did the math, you found out the million didn’t even come close.
It is time to improve the in-store experience. Reinvent it. Change it. Make it more friendly. Otherwise, within a decade, the stores will become amiable ghost towns.
I think Frank is on to something….
When the holiday decorations are an 8 1/2 x11 flier taped to a door. When the employees are allowed to be surly and curt. When the stores look much like they did in September. When employees are trained to look for the signature on the back of a credit card, but not look in a customers’ eyes – NO WONDER they don’t want to go to the mall.
Chickens…roost…etc.
It makes sense. Shopping online eliminates fighting crowds, long lines, lack of knowledgeable staff, out-of-stocks and restrictive store hours. Consumers can browse at their leisure and research and compare products and prices.
For omni-channel retailers, this means an obligation to make a seamless shopping experience. For all other retailers, it means educating in-store staff to handle consumer questions and complaints over differing prices and products.
If the online shopping tools are in good working order and set up to handle a lot of traffic, everyone gets the same satisfactory experience. The in store experience depends upon the other people in the crowd and the employees. This experience will vary, leaving the opportunity for dissatisfaction.
Consumers’ perception that the online shopping experience improves during the holiday season is simply based on experience. The online shopping experience is already better than most in-store experiences. And, shoppers know that during the holidays, the in-store experience gets absolutely crazy.
Today it is all about time and convenience. This is not the 1950s when stay-at-home wives had hours to do holiday shopping. Hours of our lives are finite. Today most everyone in a household works. Where is the time to go to the store?
I have repeated it several times in this space. I can do all the Christmas shopping for my grandchildren in an hour and a half without leaving my desk. And, I should add, get everything I want. Why would I step into a store, fight the crowds and risk not getting everything I want? It makes no sense.
To Paula’s penny point, retailers that close their eyes to online and its continued success are going to be left in the same cemetery as companies like Kodak.
Online shopping versus in-store shopping ends up being a very contrasting experience during the holidays. The negative experiences such as long lines, crowds, artificial deals, out-of-stocks, and just the time it takes to shop all likely seem even more so during the holiday shopping season, versus the serenity and ease of online shopping. And for the most part, there isn’t the instant need for the item being bought, so an increasing number of shoppers may be coming to the conclusion – why fight the crowds and deal with the negatives?
Give me a reason to go to the mall, find a parking place, fight the crowds, want to stand in line, then maybe I’ll come to the store during the holidays.
It would take a dial-up line to deter me from buying online and even then I might have to think twice. Bah Humbug!
The best person I can speak for regarding this topic is me. I will do all I can to shop as much online as I can. I simply am not one who enjoys shopping. I am a buyer, not a shopper.
Shopping in physical stores during peak holiday times drives people to brand websites. This reason alone gives the sites a head start and shoppers tend to be forgiving of poor websites during this busy time if they can get the majority of their shopping done online.
From studies we’ve done, we know that consumers view online shopping as ‘functional’ and in store shopping as ’emotional’. Given that, the best way I can correlate that to this study is that most consumers view Christmas shopping as a chore; something they have to get done. And since online shopping is more functional, they just need to get the job done in the easiest way possible, thereby enhancing the value of online’s promise.
Sort of a sad state we’re in, eh? Buying gifts for others is a hassle. But also a call-out to the retailers with thousands of stores out there: time to improve!
The hassles of in-store shopping during holiday amplify the benefits of shopping online.
There are other reasons for me too, for instance the need for some secrecy in storing bulkier gift items can make delivery a much better option than at other times.
Retailers with a digital option will continue to benefit, especially if they have overcome managing the channels as completely different silos. This allows them to leverage their data and insight to provide the most relevant mix to effectively meet customer needs across stores and online … instead of competing with each other for the same customer and potentially eroding their brand and their margins.
Time is the key here. Shopping for a whole family is time and travel drudgery. In one afternoon a computer literate individual or couple can visit a large variety of store sites on the NET and get most of the shopping done. Today’s young heads of household work long hours to meet their financial needs and goals. Spending weekends at the mall subtracts from scant and precious personal time.
There is also the issue of hard-to-find, highly desirable product. The need of hunting down the latest and greatest anything in a car getting stuck in traffic and looking all over for a place to park is so unnecessary with the internet at your fingertips.
There are a lot of people that enjoy the holiday frenzy. But more and more seem to be opting out every year as e-commerce sites are becoming faster and easier to use. This year should see more e-commerce visit and sales growth even with the current economic crunch still in effect.
If the stores werent crowded and if the all the items I needed I could quickly shop/browse, stores would be my preferred destination for holiday shopping for so many years. However, if I have an option to ditch that crowd and still get great deals at home, why not? So the sites don’t really get that much better, but the shoppers do see it as a better option to shop.
What it means for omni-channel retailers is to complete the shopping list of the shoppers irrespective of the channel. Make the store experience engaging to draw customers in. Store operations need a special focus with associates enabled with a queue-busting extended aisle and inventory look-up solutions to make the store experience not so overwhelming.
This is certainly not surprising. Shopping motivations during holiday shopping lean toward convenience, price, product availability – all winners online – vs. the tactile joy of the physical shopping experience in-store when done well. It’s a matter of degrees. For omni-channel retailers, the goal of a seamless shopping experience across channels does not change, it simply intensifies during peak periods.
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Retail stores offer 50% to 75% off sales during the holiday shopping season, but the crowds and lack of holiday spirit these days could be one reason people go online. Just the fact that so many shoppers use online at this time of year may be a factor in the survey, but the online retail and the omni-channel retailer also offer us a deal: free shipping. The ease of shopping from home, no shipping fee, and no crowds make for a better shopping experience.
The most obvious answer is that online shopping allows consumers to not experience all the negatives of physical holiday retail – crowds, bad weather, poorly trained, new hires, out-of-stocks, long lines, schleping packages through malls and in and out of cars, etc., etc.
While not confined to holidays, all of these potential negatives are exacerbated during the period.
Since I don’t believe there are many (if any) omnichannel retailers, (a phrase by the way that doesn’t translate in many languages, making its use uniquely dubious for global companies,) let me address how I think this impacts multichannel retailing.
And the answer is sort of a resounding, “Since it helps drive non in-store purchasing, it’s good for retailers with sophisticated digital options for their shoppers. Duh!.”
Obviously, if people prefer to shop online and/or through their mobile devices at holidays, this means retailers offering those options ought to do better during the period than those that don’t.
The only deterioration in service online is potentially slower sites. Otherwise, you’re completely unaware that there are thousands like you going after the same products. In store, it’s far more torturous. While retailers do staff up and change the way their lines are controlled, it’s typically not nearly enough to accommodate everyone.
Retailers are reaching a Rubicon moment when it comes to their stores. It’s easy to say “Eh, 90% of sales still culminate in stores, what’s all the blah, blah, blah about?” and point to the relatively low numbers that improve in double digits every year. But I am reminded of the grade school question, “Would you rather get a million dollars or a penny which doubles every day for a year?” When you did the math, you found out the million didn’t even come close.
It is time to improve the in-store experience. Reinvent it. Change it. Make it more friendly. Otherwise, within a decade, the stores will become amiable ghost towns.
I think Frank is on to something….
When the holiday decorations are an 8 1/2 x11 flier taped to a door. When the employees are allowed to be surly and curt. When the stores look much like they did in September. When employees are trained to look for the signature on the back of a credit card, but not look in a customers’ eyes – NO WONDER they don’t want to go to the mall.
Chickens…roost…etc.
It makes sense. Shopping online eliminates fighting crowds, long lines, lack of knowledgeable staff, out-of-stocks and restrictive store hours. Consumers can browse at their leisure and research and compare products and prices.
For omni-channel retailers, this means an obligation to make a seamless shopping experience. For all other retailers, it means educating in-store staff to handle consumer questions and complaints over differing prices and products.
If the online shopping tools are in good working order and set up to handle a lot of traffic, everyone gets the same satisfactory experience. The in store experience depends upon the other people in the crowd and the employees. This experience will vary, leaving the opportunity for dissatisfaction.
Consumers’ perception that the online shopping experience improves during the holiday season is simply based on experience. The online shopping experience is already better than most in-store experiences. And, shoppers know that during the holidays, the in-store experience gets absolutely crazy.
Today it is all about time and convenience. This is not the 1950s when stay-at-home wives had hours to do holiday shopping. Hours of our lives are finite. Today most everyone in a household works. Where is the time to go to the store?
I have repeated it several times in this space. I can do all the Christmas shopping for my grandchildren in an hour and a half without leaving my desk. And, I should add, get everything I want. Why would I step into a store, fight the crowds and risk not getting everything I want? It makes no sense.
To Paula’s penny point, retailers that close their eyes to online and its continued success are going to be left in the same cemetery as companies like Kodak.
Online shopping versus in-store shopping ends up being a very contrasting experience during the holidays. The negative experiences such as long lines, crowds, artificial deals, out-of-stocks, and just the time it takes to shop all likely seem even more so during the holiday shopping season, versus the serenity and ease of online shopping. And for the most part, there isn’t the instant need for the item being bought, so an increasing number of shoppers may be coming to the conclusion – why fight the crowds and deal with the negatives?
Give me a reason to go to the mall, find a parking place, fight the crowds, want to stand in line, then maybe I’ll come to the store during the holidays.
It would take a dial-up line to deter me from buying online and even then I might have to think twice. Bah Humbug!
The best person I can speak for regarding this topic is me. I will do all I can to shop as much online as I can. I simply am not one who enjoys shopping. I am a buyer, not a shopper.
Shopping in physical stores during peak holiday times drives people to brand websites. This reason alone gives the sites a head start and shoppers tend to be forgiving of poor websites during this busy time if they can get the majority of their shopping done online.
From studies we’ve done, we know that consumers view online shopping as ‘functional’ and in store shopping as ’emotional’. Given that, the best way I can correlate that to this study is that most consumers view Christmas shopping as a chore; something they have to get done. And since online shopping is more functional, they just need to get the job done in the easiest way possible, thereby enhancing the value of online’s promise.
Sort of a sad state we’re in, eh? Buying gifts for others is a hassle. But also a call-out to the retailers with thousands of stores out there: time to improve!
The hassles of in-store shopping during holiday amplify the benefits of shopping online.
There are other reasons for me too, for instance the need for some secrecy in storing bulkier gift items can make delivery a much better option than at other times.
Retailers with a digital option will continue to benefit, especially if they have overcome managing the channels as completely different silos. This allows them to leverage their data and insight to provide the most relevant mix to effectively meet customer needs across stores and online … instead of competing with each other for the same customer and potentially eroding their brand and their margins.
Time is the key here. Shopping for a whole family is time and travel drudgery. In one afternoon a computer literate individual or couple can visit a large variety of store sites on the NET and get most of the shopping done. Today’s young heads of household work long hours to meet their financial needs and goals. Spending weekends at the mall subtracts from scant and precious personal time.
There is also the issue of hard-to-find, highly desirable product. The need of hunting down the latest and greatest anything in a car getting stuck in traffic and looking all over for a place to park is so unnecessary with the internet at your fingertips.
There are a lot of people that enjoy the holiday frenzy. But more and more seem to be opting out every year as e-commerce sites are becoming faster and easier to use. This year should see more e-commerce visit and sales growth even with the current economic crunch still in effect.
If the stores werent crowded and if the all the items I needed I could quickly shop/browse, stores would be my preferred destination for holiday shopping for so many years. However, if I have an option to ditch that crowd and still get great deals at home, why not? So the sites don’t really get that much better, but the shoppers do see it as a better option to shop.
What it means for omni-channel retailers is to complete the shopping list of the shoppers irrespective of the channel. Make the store experience engaging to draw customers in. Store operations need a special focus with associates enabled with a queue-busting extended aisle and inventory look-up solutions to make the store experience not so overwhelming.
This is certainly not surprising. Shopping motivations during holiday shopping lean toward convenience, price, product availability – all winners online – vs. the tactile joy of the physical shopping experience in-store when done well. It’s a matter of degrees. For omni-channel retailers, the goal of a seamless shopping experience across channels does not change, it simply intensifies during peak periods.