Retailers’ Top Priority? A Seamless Shopping Experience

Fifty-one percent of retailers say that creating a seamless experience across channels is their top priority, according to a recent survey by Boston Retail Partners (BRP). To support a seamless customer experience, 23 percent of the retailers surveyed have already implemented a single, unified commerce platform, and another 52 percent plan to implement one within the next three years. BRP defines unified commerce as leveraging “a single commerce platform to eliminate individual channel silos and solve the omnichannel integration challenges to offer a holistic customer experience across all customer touch points—in real-time.”

“Over the last several months we have read stories that indicate malls and traditional in-store retail are dead; however, in reality, retailers like Zara and Apple are thriving in many of the same mall locations,” says Ken Morris, principal. “The key difference between retail ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ is the customer experience. Going forward, retail success will be dependent on delivering an exceptional customer experience and without it, retailers will fail.”

The goal of the “2016 Customer Experience/Unified Commerce Benchmark Survey,” which polled top North American retailers, was to understand the state of unified commerce and how retailers are enhancing the customer experience. Other key findings include:

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Forty-four percent of retailers will be increasing their focus on customer loyalty in the next 12 months.
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Three quarters of retailers plan to have a single commerce platform within three years.
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Nearly 90 percent of retailers plan to have centralized inventory management, order management system, and integrated customer relationship management as part of their unified commerce platform.
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For 89 percent of retailers, social media will be the predominant forum for brand interaction within the next three years.
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At least 75 percent of retailers plan to have mobile apps for associates and customers within three years.