BigCommerce multi-channel retailing is the modern practice of selling merchandise on more than one sales channel (e.g. a web store, marketplaces, and social media).
It’s all about moving beyond your website and exploring channels such as marketplaces, social media, and comparison shopping engines.
A global study of digital shoppers finds one in every three dollars of discretionary income is now spent online. Digital channels influence nearly all offline purchase decisions.
Shoppers Have Many Sites to Choose From
Online and Offline
Multi-channel retailing is a modern approach to commerce. It focuses on designing a cohesive user experience for customers at every touchpoint.
This differs from traditional marketing, where individual channels were optimized without necessarily taking the whole experience into mind.
Download this free research report from BigCommerce to uncover:
- What drives more than 2,500 global consumers to complete a purchase?
- Why a fully-integrated digital presence is essential for today’s customer decision journey?
- Nine trends retailers should understand the current state of omnichannel buying.
- Actionable ways to immediately strengthen the relationship between your brand and consumers.
See How Global Consumers Shop Across Channels
The study concludes that these three factors are most important for digital shoppers: convenience, selection, and data privacy.
According to the report, one of every three dollars of monthly discretionary income is now spent online, but the purchase journey can be complicated.
39% of consumer respondents visited a brand’s website before making a purchase in a physical retail store, and 33% will attempt to price match the product online.
“Our hope is that by providing merchants with a deeper context of how consumers are actually shopping today, we’re better equipping them with both the tools and the knowledge to create experiences that drive conversion and continued loyalty, ” said Jimmy Duvall, chief product officer at BigCommerce.
Make Products Available
Where Shoppers Shop
The results of the study emphasize that brands can no longer afford a single-channel retail experience and must make products available across multiple digital and offline channels where consumers are shopping. Key global findings from the report include:
- The “Amazon Effect”. Four out of five consumers made a purchase on Amazon in the last six months, compared to only 65% that bought something in a physical store. Even more telling? The influence of Amazon Prime’s fast and free shipping promise on e-commerce behavior.
- 18% of global respondents cite shipping costs as their least favorite aspect of online shopping, with another 15% citing waiting for the product to arrive.
- The ability to convey value overcomes pricing hurdles. Respondents no longer see price as the primary reason to shop on Amazon, with 28% of consumers preferring the site’s convenience to its low prices.
- Brands are doing a better job of using product imagery, descriptions, and customer reviews to convey a product’s value, which is encouraging customers to make more purchases on the brand’s website even if the product is available for less somewhere else.
Data privacy remains a major concern – but not at the expense of convenience. 70% of consumers would opt-out of having their data collected if given the option. Gen X, Millennial and Gen Z consumers indicated a willingness to share data with retailers if provided free shipping or product discounts in exchange.
When Returns Are A Sales Opportunity
Returns may help bridge the gap between online and in-store. Businesses that have a physical store, as well as an online one, should look to product
returns as a sales opportunity. More than half of shoppers expect to return approximately 25 percent of online purchases. While 50 percent of
returns are sent via mail, 67 percent of consumers that choose to return in-store also browse or shop in the store afterward, illustrating the
value of bricks-and-mortar retail stores in an omnichannel world.
And Financing Is A Sales Tool
Available payment options matter. Thirty-six percent of global respondents admitted to buying a more expensive option when offered financing at checkout. Another 33 percent confirmed that, without financing, they would not have made the purchase!
About The Study
BigCommerce conducted this survey between August 2 – August 5, 2018, and distributed it to online consumers at least 18 years of age via
SurveyMonkey. Survey responses were collected from approximately 3,000 individuals living in Australia, the United Kingdom or the United States.
More Info:
The 2019 Omi-Channel Retail Report
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To learn more, please email Marcia or give her a call at 561-906-3436.