Retailers Missing the Mark on Customers’ Omni-Channel Expectations

OrderDynamics study reveals retailers are offering wrong delivery and inventory services across channels to attract customers 

Online retailers provide delivery options shoppers don’t want – and don’t offer the ones they do, according to new research from Software Company OrderDynamics and Opinion Matters. From next-day delivery to in-store stock visibility, OrderDynamics reveals that retailers are disappointing consumers with a mismatch of the services they offer and the services customers expect.

More than half of online shoppers (54 per cent) want a named delivery date, but only 15 per cent of retailers currently offer it (The mismatch of retailer services and consumer expectations. Source: OrderDynamics, September 2014).

It is the most desired delivery option by customers, yet is one of the least likely to be offered by retailers, according to the research findings.

By contrast, 61 per cent of retailers offer next-day delivery (the second most common delivery option after standard delivery) but only 10 per cent of shoppers are willing to pay extra for the service, which on average costs £6. Instead, more consumers would prefer to see which nearest store has a product in stock (45 per cent), an option that only 11 per cent of retailers currently offer.

Retailers have struck the balance in one area however: 32 per cent of consumers reported they would use a click & collect service if it was available, and half of online retailers provide this facility.

“This study reinforces a point that I talk with retailers about every day: customers do not see channels. They have one relationship with and one view of the retailer, and they want to hear you say ‘yes’ to their desires and to deliver that experience ‘now,” said Kevin Sterneckert, CMO of OrderDynamics. “Consumers are telling us that the industry is not yet living up to the promises we’re making. It will take a holistic view of data across the enterprise and across channels, and a fully integrated approach to retail to begin living up to customers’ demands. This critical view of the “any channel” enterprise will make the difference between offering a service which is expensive to run and disappoints customers and a profitable experience that keeps customers coming back to you again and again.”

For more information on the results of the consumer survey and the retailer benchmark, read our report ‘Customer Relationships: The rules of attraction’.