Study: Retailers lag in omnichannel capabilities

Austin, Texas - Retailers have barely reached the halfway mark in their journey to omnichannel maturity. According to the results of a new report from Starmount and Retail Systems Research (RSR) that asked retailers to rate themselves on six dimensions of omnichannel maturity, the lowest overall rankings (an average score of 2.7 on a six-point scale) were in omnichannel order and fulfillment capabilities.



In addition, 67% of retailers were “inefficient” or worse at integrating in-store and digital experiences. Other findings include:



• 71% of retailers are unable to successfully measure omnichannel customer engagement. Moreover, only 34% of retailers reported customer data collection capabilities at the “performing” or “differentiator” levels. Overall, customer engagement is not measured, and only basic statistics that are relevant to marketing are tracked at all.



• Half of all respondents were inefficient or worse at responsibility and ownership of omnichannel inventory. Moreover, 60% said they were inefficient or worse at maintaining inventory visibility across channels, and a disappointing 44% of respondents report “no capability” when it comes to measuring inventory performance.



“Part of the challenge in navigating omni-channel change is understanding how much change is really necessary,” said Nikki Baird, managing partner at RSR and an author of the report. “Up until now, I think a lot of retailers have tried to protect their businesses from change, rather than embrace it.”