Comment: Understanding the shopper’s journey to purchase

As retailers, we know all too well that shoppers want convenience, speed and choice – they want to shop anytime, anywhere, on any device. 

The boundaries between offline and online are blurring and a shopper’s journey to purchase increasingly involves a number of different touch points, both on and offline.

These complex shopping journeys represent real opportunities for smart retailers. eBay recently commissioned a multi-market study from Deloitte into omnichannel retail. The study, which analysed sales data from 21 leading European retailers and questioned 2000 adults in the UK and Germany, found:

Omnichannel sales are almost entirely incremental

Spending on online, non-store shopping is nearly all additional to high street sales in two key sectors studied – dresses and white goods. So for leading retailers who sell across multiple channels, over 95 per cent of online dress sales in the UK are additional to high street sales. That means that for every £100 spent with these retailers beyond the store, only £5 would have been spent in their high street shops. These statistics are mirrored by results in the German white goods market, where 98 per cent of online sales are additional for retailers.

Omnichannel shoppers are more valuable to retailers

They spend more money and shop more frequently as they shop across channels, in times and places that suit their busy lifestyles. These ‘Super Shoppers’ make up 18% of consumers and account for around 70% of retail spending in the UK.

But how to grasp the omnichannel opportunity? Deloitte asked the 21 European retailers for their top tips. They advised to:

1. Pursue an omnichannel strategy centred around customers

• Understand customers’ behaviours and enable channels to operate flexibly, allowing customers to use the channel of their choice at any point of the journey.
• Be present across a breadth of channels, from stores and catalogues to websites, apps and social media to maximise the chances of shoppers finding and engaging with a brand while contemplating a purchase.

2. Take a holistic view

• Promote a culture across organisations that embraces omnichannel retailing, led by the company’s executive leadership.
• Be prepared to align entire operations with omnichannel retailing, from marketing and distribution, to staffing and IT.

3. Integrate channels to ensure seamless shopping

• Ensure product information and prices are consistent across channels.
• Move to an integrated IT platform from which all channels are run.

4. Streamline logistics

• Appeal to consumers who value flexibility and convenience by offering a range of fulfilment options.

5. Redefine the store

• Re-evaluate the portfolio of retail sites and make the most of stores as part of the omnichannel experience, for example by using some outlets as flagship stores and adapting others to be used as collection points.

6. Kick start cross-border trade

• Sell internationally through online and mobile sites to test out new markets before deciding whether to establish a store presence.
• Consider partnerships with third parties who can help retailers sell and deliver internationally, while reducing the costs associate with marketing, promotions and supply chain.

To conclude, we see customers as being in the driving seat and pushing retailers for ever-higher standards of service and greater convenience.  And we also see that there are clearly opportunities for those who grasp the omnichannel opportunity. That’s why more retailers will be working to introduce new services such as pay via mobile in store, Click & Collect, ‘order ahead’ and ‘ship to store’, all of which are provided already by eBay Inc to our retail partners.

•  Tanya Lawler, Vice President of eBay in the UK