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Omnichannel Retail IBM

UK retailers outstrip European counterparts in omnichannel capability, but all lack consistency, says IBM study

By Jessica Davies, News Editor

IBM

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IBM article

September 16, 2014 | 4 min read

UK retailers have outstripped their European counterparts in the ongoing push to provide a consistent experience across all on and offline channels, but all still lack consistent omnichannel experiences, according to an IBM study.

The European Omnichannel Capabilities report, which spanned 169 major retailers across Europe, 33 of which were from the UK, revealed that none of them could boast a complete omnichannel experience, with urgent attention needed to improve in-store service, mobile and delivery offerings.

IBM examined 12,675 data points across the retailers’ channels and assessed their experience against 75 criteria and a wide range of categories, revealing that many still failed to unite their on and offline customer journeys, rendering e-commerce and in-store experiences inconsistent.

It revealed that retailers excelled at price consistency across different on and offline channels, receiving a 76.4 per cent rating, but struggled with services consumers increasingly expected such as click and collect, home delivery and mobile apps.

However, when examining the top five retailers, the report revealed that the UK leads the way in Europe for delivering the best and most complete service, scoring an average of 73 per cent across all criteria.

Belgium was the lowest with a 30 per ccent score.

Previous IBM studies have highlighted the growing desire to use technology in the shopping process, with six out of seven opting to do so, while half want to use multiple devices, according to its 2013 Institute for Business Value study.

This further highlighted the urgency with which retailers must drive their omnichannel offerings, the report concluded.

"The proportion of consumer 'last purchases' online is increasing, with consumers willing to embrace the use of omnichannel technologies. European online revenue is set to increase to €191bn by 2017, which will outpace the rest of the retail marketplace.

"Omnichannel capability is therefore increasingly relevant for all EU retailers.

Consumers will reward retailers for an authentic omnichannel experience with loyalty, an increased share of wallet and brand advocacy across social media channels," said IBM.

The retailers surveyed achieved a 41.12 per cent “yes” result against the 75 criteria, which IBM concluded indictaed there was a "significant" gap in retailers' ability to provide a complete omnichannel experience and therefore has predicted a 59 per cent opportunity for improvement.

Overall, general merchandise retailers scored the highest ratings - 62.8 per cent,

while furniture sellers achieved the lowest score of 35.60 per cent.

Meanwhile grocery and fashion retailers, which comprised 43 per cent of the sample, performed less favourably against the criteria.

However, the report claimed that retailers have embraced social media effectively across all sectors.

IBM has outlined three core factors which it advised retailers to adopt if they are to ensure a strong omnichannel presence:

  • Seamless integration between all channels (physical shops, online, mobile, social media and more), enabling a customer to move fluently between each touchpoint as they shop.

  • Transparent visibility of transactional and behavioural data to enable a truly personalised offer to satisfy each customer’s shopping preferences.

  • A customer-centric operating model to ensure that everyone has an easy and rewarding shopping experience that reflects their lifestyle and level of technological capability.

Omnichannel Retail IBM

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IBM

IBM is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States, with operations in over 170 countries. 

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