Survey: For consumers, more mobile technology means a better shopping experience

With numerous new apps and devices to make online shopping quick and easy, there has never been more pressure on bricks-and-mortar retailers to bring the same convenience in-store. According to SOTI's Annual Connected Retailer Survey, U.S. consumers are demanding a more convenient shopping experience with less human interaction and more mobile technology and in-store innovation than ever before.

Through a survey that looked at U.S. consumers’ shopping habits both online and in-store, 76 percent of respondents indicated that retailers that utilize more mobile technology (both self-service and used by sales associates) enable a quicker shopping experience, an increase from 67 percent last year. Additionally, nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of respondents were in favor of self-service technologies to improve the retail shopping experience and reduce staff interactions, up 10.6 percent from last year.

“SOTI’s Connected Retail survey indicates that consumers desire technology that enables a quicker and more convenient in-store shopping experience with limited human interaction. These results prove the critical role that mobile technology plays in reducing many of the challenges of the seamless customer experience through solutions that reduce cost, complexity and downtime in a secured for mobile, yet accessible fashion,” said Shash Anand, vice-president of product strategy at SOTI. “In an era where mobility can be taken to endless possibilities, retailers need to evolve beyond traditional mobile technology management to capitalize on new customer expectations quickly and efficiently."

When it comes to arming sales associates with the right mobile solutions, consumers were dramatically more in favor of supplying them with technology to improve their experience than they were in 2017, which makes this all the more evident that retail continues to evolve and customer expectations never stand still.

To read the entire SOTI survey results, click here.