eBay's Marty Ellis on how retailers can grasp the Omnichannel opportunity

As the internet becomes an essential part of our everyday shopping experience, customer expectations are rapidly changing. The consumer of today is able to shop on the global high street 24 hours a day, seamlessly accessing any number of touch-points, comparing prices and picking and choosing a wealth of products.

With the big four supermarkets continuing to compete fiercely, the need to adapt to rapidly changing shopping behaviours is clear. Increasingly smart retailers are adopting an omnichannel strategy that allows people to shop anytime, anywhere and on any device. The Tu move online now takes Sainsbury’s fashion offer more into this space. In other words, an integrated approach which covers physical stores, e-commerce and third-party shopping sites across mobile, tablet and desktop devices, as well as taking advantage of local delivery innovations such as click-and-collect.

eBay recently commissioned a multi-market study from Deloitte on omnichannel retail. The study, which analysed external sales data from 21 leading European retailers and questioned 2,000 adults in the UK and Germany, found:

Omnichannel sales are almost entirely incremental: In two key sectors studied – dresses and white goods – online shopping was almost entirely additional to high street sales. For example, over 95 per cent of online dress sales in the UK are additional to high street sales (money that people would not have spent). This means that for every £100 spent with these retailers, only £5 would have been spent in their high street shops. These statistics are mirrored by results in the German white goods market, where 98 per cent of online sales are additional for retailers.

Omnichannel shoppers are more valuable to retailers: They spend more money and shop more frequently as they shop across channels, in times and places that suit their busy lifestyles. We've called these "super shoppers" and they make up 18 per cent of consumers and account for around 70 per cent of retail spending in the UK

So the opportunities are there, but how can more retailers grasp them?

1. Make shopping truly seamless

Customers are in the driving seat and pushing retailers for ever higher standards of service and greater convenience. They fully expect your store and online channels to be joined up and can have little patience if they aren’t. For example, they want to collect in store or return via the store, even if they bought online. Retailers will be working this year to introduce new multichannel services such as pay via mobile in store, Click & Collect, ‘order ahead’ and ‘ship to store’, all of which are provided by eBay Inc. to our retail partners.

2. Inspire your shoppers

Shoppers want convenience, speed and choice and also very much linked to this, they want to be inspired. That’s why eBay recently introduced a suite of new features designed to help shoppers follow their passions. We’re making this happen by enhancing the ability to browse and discover on the site and further details can be found here.

3. Look to local

Click and Collect has of course fast become a staple of UK retail. In 2013, nearly 4 out of 5 people used some form of Click and Collect service1 and it’s estimated that by 2018 as much as 50% of online sales will be Click & Collect2. eBay and Argos are currently piloting a Click and Collect initiative which allows eBay shoppers to collect purchases from select sellers in local Argos stores.

1 Source: Econsultancy Online Shopping survey 2013

2 Source: IMRG Retail Technology survey 2013