We know from the research that today’s shopper hops back and forth between channels on their way to purchase. To wit:
Some two-thirds of U.S. shoppers regularly begin their decision journeys online.1
More than eight in ten rely most often on online ratings and reviews when making purchase decisions.2
And yet some 88 percent of revenue is transacted in a brick and mortar store.3
From online to in-store. Obvious. But what all of us often miss is that it’s not just a PC-to-store journey anymore.
We’re now in the world of the eight-screen-hopper shopper.
Shopping in a World of Screens
Today’s digital natives, whose numbers and purchasing power are growing, live by their screens. The smartphone, as we know, is the most beloved device — the ultimate personal device — and worldwide adoption is increasing rapidly. Most smartphone users would sacrifice their wallets before giving up their phones. Indeed, by 2017, it’s expected that one-third of the world’s population will be using smartphones.4
A recent Capgemini survey across 13 developed nations found that one in five digital shoppers polled — the true digitals — prefer using smartphones for every aspect of the shopping experience. They search, compare prices, order, pay, and track delivery with their phones.5
But the smartphone is only one of the points of influence. Those retailers who seek a smartphone strategy will address only a portion of what’s needed for a cohesive mobile strategy.
Predicting the Desires of the Digital Native
It’s time for a retail screens strategy. One that connects with and keeps the shopper as they move from the smartphone screen to the PC screen to the tablet screen to the video screen to the smart vending screen to the digital billboard screen to the in-store display screen to the kiosk-terminal screen to the automobile screen.
What is today’s automobile but a smartphone with a steering wheel? The truly mobile device.
Given the eight-screen reality, today’s leaders must focus upon consistent, device-right and journey-right content delivery. They must influence the decision at the right time, through the right screen, with the right message.
It’s an area of emphasis for us in 2015.
Check back in this space for more in the coming weeks. This is the third installment of a series on Retail & Tech. Click here to read Moving from Maintenance to Growth in Retail Technology and The Behavioral Shift Driving Change in the World of Retail.
Jon Stine
Global Director, Retail Sales
Intel Corporation
1 Cisco, IBSG, January 2014.
2 Merkle-Intel Digital Shopper Behavior Survey, 2014.
3 National Retail Federation. “2015 National Retail Federation Data.” 06 January 2015.
4 eMarketer, 2014.
5 CapGemini, “Digital Shopper Relevancy,” 2014.
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