As consumers become more digitally connected and savvy, they expect their favorite retailers to provide highly relevant and personalized experiences — especially while they’re shopping in stores. In fact, 51% of consumers said they would use location-based coupons in stores, according to research from Zebra Technologies. Nearly half (45%) would use location-based shopping maps in the store, and 41% would use location-based associate assistance.
Consumers also want retailers to give them more control over their shopping experiences. For example, 64% of consumers want retailers to give them more flexibility to control how their personal information is used to tailor their experiences.
When receiving personalized offers, most prefer email notifications (91%) before leaving the house. While entering or moving throughout a store, their preferences change significantly. For example, when in-store, 42% of consumers prefer text as their primary communication method. Another 31% prefer receiving social media notifications in-store.
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Research Now conducted the 2015 Global Shopper Study for Zebra Technologies in Q1 2015to uncover consumer attitudes regarding the use of in-store technologies to enhance the overall experience.Approximately 2,000 shoppers were surveyed in the U.S., Canada, Singapore, Australia, England, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, China, Japan and Thailand.
Despite many retailers implementing technology in stores, many shoppers still believe customer service has plenty of room for improvement. The study uncovered that 34% of shoppers believe they are better connected to real-time product information than in-store associates. Additionally, 64% of shoppers would be willing to purchase more merchandise if they received better customer service.
Mobile technology was spotlighted as a key technology to improve customer service: 58% of consumers said that store associates who use handheld mobile computers improve the shopping experience.
Although 39% of shoppers note that helpful sales assistants influence them to spend more time in a store, more shoppers (58%) highlight product availability as a prime influencer. Shoppers still appreciate the ability to browse and experience physical products when shopping in the store, with 901 of the nearly 2,000 shoppers surveyed listing it as the key reason for visiting a store.
Click here to access the full report.
