Report: Consumers want less friction, more synergy at retail

An increasing number of shoppers are looking for more personalization, better mobile checkout and a consistent brand experience across channels, according to a new report.

Findings from retail intelligence firm BRP show the traditional retail model continues to experience significant disruption as new technologies put additional information and enhanced functionality into the hands of consumers. This increases customer expectations as there are now more shopping options than ever before with more competitive pricing, greater merchandise assortments and faster delivery options to get the desired product where and when the customer needs it. This makes the customer journey more complicated and adds further challenges to retailers' bottom lines.

"The growth of digital – both online and mobile – continues to drive demand for increased digital capabilities bundled with personalization in the store," said Perry Kramer, senior vice president and practice lead at BRP. "This transformation requires a true unified commerce approach, delivering the convergence of the digital and physical shopping environments, working seamlessly in real-time, to create a holistic customer shopping experience wherever and whenever the customer wants to shop."

Consumers now start and stop their shopping journey in different channels and frequently shop for the same product across different retailers, via mobile, online or in-store. The customer expects a frictionless shopping experience across an entire brand and doesn't want disruptions as they cross individual channels or locations.

While 59% of retailers are focused on creating a consistent brand experience across channels, there is a focus on the convergence of physical and digital shopping environments to create a consistent brand experience across channels.

Some of the top unified commerce priorities for retailers to enhance the customer experience include:

• Create a consistent brand experience across channels (59%)
• Improve the online experience (52%)
• Improve personalization (45%)
• Improve the mobile shopping experience (41%)

The full BRP report can be found online.