Retailers Struggling To Meet Shoppers' Omni-Channel Aspriations

Retailers failure to keep pace with consumer expectations of their online services will become a 'matter of survival', according to new research.

But the report by Forrester and commissioned by SAP's Hybris and Accenture suggests that the difficulties of integration are proving almost too much for many retailers with 94 per cent saying there were 'significant barriers' to achieving goals.

Accenture said: 'Omni-channel retail is fast becoming the norm and consumers have heightened shopping expectations in the era of omni-channel. But, despite massive investments in people, process and technology, retailers are struggling to even come close to meeting the omni-channel expectations of their customers.'

The study, 'Customer desires vs. retailer capabilities: Minding the omni-channel commerce gap', found that 71 per cent of more than 1,500 shoppers surveyed expect to see in-store inventory online while 39 per cent said they were unlikely or very unlikely to visit a retailer’s store if its website did not provide physical store inventory information.

But only 32 per cent said they were able to provide in-store stock levels at the moment.

Meanwhile, 50 per cent expect to buy online and pick up in the store. But only 36 per cent of the more than 256 retail decision makers questioned as part of the study found their companies could provide customers with that.

Four in ten customers expected to be able to pick up goods within the hour if they ordered online but only 55 per cent can fulfil that expectation.

'As customers expect retailers to provide consistent and contextual service across every channel and interaction, retailers need to adopt new technologies that enable this critical transformation to omni-channel customer engagement and service. This is going to be vital to meeting customers’ expectations and, frankly, survival for retailers,' said Brian Walker, chief strategy officer at Hybris.