With the 2024 global edition of the Omnichannel Leadership Report assessing nearly 700 retail brands in 10 countries through secret shopper research, the latest results reveal how retailers are performing across several key factors of online, mobile and in-store experiences.
Consumers no longer see online and in-store shopping as distinct experiences but expect constant connectivity. Many now engage in “hybrid” shopping with an “all of the above” approach that unifies shopping experiences, blending physical and digital channels.
There’s no denying that the customer experience has become increasingly important; however, many retailers have taken pains to save costs in an environment of economic headwinds and unpredictability. As a result, according to the report, there’s a stark difference between omnichannel leaders and median performers. While leaders have consistently invested in meeting customer expectations with continuous delivery of omnichannel features, the supermajority of the retail market comprises laggards, many of which make incremental improvements but overall haven’t made significant strides in the omnichannel department.
Let’s take a look at the top three takeaways to help your retail business recalibrate its omnichannel investments.
1. Retailers need more omnichannel features
Although there has been some progress, most retailers aren’t fully utilizing omnichannel solutions, such as BOPIS, Live Chat, membership/reward programs, and other features frequently expected by consumers. In fact, the report unveiled a considerable gap in the capabilities offered in their mobile, online and physical store shopping experiences, with the average website including only 7.3 features out of 16.
However, there’s a strong indication of growth in BOPIS and BORIS (buy online, return in-store), reflecting the increasingly high expectation that retailers provide easy return policies. Overall, 60% of websites evaluated offered BOPIS, with the US, Canada and Germany leading this trend.
Live Chat is also becoming increasingly mainstream, with half of brands providing this feature. However, only 3% could escalate from automated chat to an actual store associate. Interestingly, German brands were the most likely to connect to a customer service representative, with 61% offering this capability.
Moreover, Live Chat Shopping — the capability to enable customers to communicate with associates while browsing or making a purchase — is still a relatively new concept, with only a fifth of brands offering this service. The picture is different in Australia and Spain, where 41% and 25% of brands, respectively, offer this personalized service.
Another growing area is wishlists, which allow customers to save products in their carts for later purchases. Four in 10 consumers say their shopping experiences would improve if retailers offered a wishlist, and 70% of brands actually do. However, only 35% of brands provide online inventory visibility, a critical aspect for boosting sales. Nearly half of consumers said they check online inventory before visiting a store.
2. Mobile app commerce is still lagging despite better conversion
Despite the popularity of mobile commerce, mobile shopping apps remain relatively scarce. And when available, consumer experiences with these apps are often relatively immature compared to the basic features readily available today.
Only a third of brands offered a mobile shopping app, with the most common features focused on self-service activities, exclusive content or robust loyalty programs. According to the report, the average mobile experience includes 7.7 features out of 17, with wishlist features being the highest (77%) and inventory checker capabilities being the lowest (43%).
It’s worth mentioning that, despite profound global growth in mobile commerce, two-thirds of brands still lack a native mobile app. North America had a notably higher adoption rate than the rest of the world (38% compared to 26%). Mobile apps were most common in Spain, where half of the surveyed brands offered one.
Rather perplexing, many brands that did offer a mobile shopping app failed to promote it on their website. Only about a fifth of websites promote the brand’s mobile app, although this was slightly more common in North America (25%) than in other regions (17%).
A majority of retail brands aren’t taking advantage of the opportunity to use apps to connect directly with customers as a communication tool to connect with the in-store experience. Little more than a third of apps offered an option to chat with a representative, while less than one in 10 enabled users to schedule a virtual or in-store appointment.
“Store mode” capabilities, a feature of retail mobile apps that allows users to access specific functionalities or content tailored to their in-store shopping experience, such as store maps, barcode scanning, and more, have been popularized by major retailers like Walmart, Home Depot and Target but aren’t yet available for most retailers. While more than 60% of apps in Australia, France and Spain offered a store mode, less than a quarter of brands in the US provided this feature.
3. Many stores lack digital features
While the prevalence of digital technologies has spiked, they are still not being put to full use in stores. For example, while six out of 10 websites and a third of apps offer Live Chat, the report found that less than a quarter of them direct customers to a local store associate, which research has shown to be preferred among shoppers. Additionally, only a third of stores offer buy now, pay later or provide associates in-store mobile devices to help customers on the sales floor. Finally, only 50% of brands can check inventory, view a customer’s in-store history and order items from other stores.
Digital technologies such as product tags and QR codes are yet to take off on a large scale; less than a fifth of tags had QR codes, while less than a tenth were enabled with RFID. Adoption rates were more than double in markets outside of North America and were the highest in Spain, where nearly half of the observed tags had one form of the technology.
The ability to look up wishlists was one notable area where retailers were lacking — and not making progress. The 23% of store associates who could look up a customer’s wishlist was only up 2% from 2022. Furthermore, only 41% of associates could view online purchase history, a notable decline of 13% compared to 2022.
The good news is that 93% of stores reported the ability for associates to check inventory at their stores. Additionally, nearly three-quarters could also check inventory at other stores.
Moving forward, there’s an opportunity for retailers to greatly enhance the in-store experience by integrating more digital features.
Conclusion: The future of retail is omnichannel
As consumer behaviors continue to evolve, brands that prioritize an integrated and forward-thinking approach will be well-placed to deliver exceptional experiences, regardless of where their customers choose to engage.
This report underscores the urgency for brands to not just follow, but lead in the omnichannel landscape, turning challenges into opportunities for growth and innovation.
Discover all the insights for your omnichannel strategy! Download the Omnichannel Leadership Report 2024.
Manuela Marques Tchoe is a Content Writer at commercetools. She was a Content and Product Marketing Director at conversational commerce provider tyntec. She has written content in partnership with Facebook, Rakuten Viber and other social media platforms.