Smart shoppers: online and mobile
AUSTRALIAN retailers must “wake up” to ways to engage customers online beyond a focus on sales, says consulting heavyweight Deloitte.
New research from the group found four in 10 store visits were influenced by digital device use, while customers persuaded by social media were 26 per cent more likely to buy.
Deloitte’s retail industry leader David White said it was crucial retailers thought beyond online as merely a sales avenue and considered fresh ways to reach and market their brand to shoppers.
Mr White and Deloitte digital partner Katherine Milesi said online offered vital opportunities to draw in the bricks-and-mortar customers, with 65 per cent using a digital device such as a mobile phone before hitting the stores and nearly a third doing so during their shopping trip.
“Digital will soon be the deciding success factor in retail,” Mr White said.
“This should be a wake-up call for the retail sector which is at risk of underestimating local consumer appetite for digital engagement.
“Global brands have educated Australian consumers to expect internationally competitive pricing, an endless aisle and greater shopping convenience.”
Ms Milesi said when consumers researched products online before, during and after shopping trips, they boosted average sales conversion * 47 per cent of respondents use a mobile device to compare products * 42 per cent access product information online * 33 per cent check product availability online * 65 per cent go online before shopping * 31 per cent use a mobile device while shopping rates by 25 per cent and order sizes by 21 per cent.
Australia is the sixth most concentrated smartphone market in the world, and ties with the US as the developed country with the highest social media influence.
Ms Milesi said social media was a golden opportunity for retailers to connect with shoppers in the real world.
Those influenced by social media were 26 per cent more likely to buy a product than non-social media users.
“Social media users are further along their purchase journey, having used it for inspiration and validation,” she said.
“And digitally influenced shoppers are tagging locations and sharing images, videos and information about their shopping journey with their family and friends.”
The Navigating the New Digital Divide report said consumer engagement with a retailer started well ahead of the in-store visit.
Seventy-two per cent of shoppers said they were already aware of the product they wanted to purchase instore through their own research, rather than through advertising.
Electronics, automotive, books and music, furniture and baby goods are the categories most influenced by digital browsing, the report found.
And consumers’ home research paid off for retailers, with 21 per cent of shoppers believing digital use increases their order size through personalised offers or additional product suggestions.