Survey: Customers want services that retailers haven’t got

Retailers aren’t keeping pace with customer expectations in several key areas.

That’s according to the enVista 2020 Customer Engagement Survey in which 72% of respondents indicate personalized assistance from a sales associate is an important factor in determining which store to shop, but only 34% of retail respondents say customer identification/personalization of experience is a top priority for 2020.

Similarly, 66% of customers are likely to choose a retailer if it offers mobile coupons/promotions, but only 51% of retailers successfully offer them. The disconnect is even more pronounced in the ability to buy anywhere/ship anywhere (65% of customers say this is an important factor in deciding where to shop but only 21% of retailers have implemented a unified commerce platform to enable it), and in the presence of self-checkout kiosks (54% of customers are likely to select a retailer with a self-checkout kiosk but only 21% of retailers successfully offer them).

Other interesting statistics include:

•    72% of consumers indicate personalized customer service from a sales associate is an important factor in determining where they choose to shop.

•    The most prevalent and successfully implemented technologies that retailers are using to identify customers are the retailer’s mobile website (81%), mobile app (81%) and mobile wallet (73%), however, many retailers using these technologies indicate that they need improvement.

•    Many retailers (76%) find that offering incentives in the form of loyalty points or dollars is the most effective way to draw in customers. 

•    56% of consumers begin their journey on their mobile device.

•    While they are in a store, 22% of customers utilize their phones to look up product information and compare prices and 24% look for offers/coupons.

•    55% of retailers currently operate their POS as a cloud application/service.

•    23% of consumers are likely to shop at a store offering an augmented reality or virtual reality experience as part of their shopping environment and 31% are likely to choose a store offering virtual mirrors to allow them to virtually try on items like make-up and apparel.