Consumers’ Demand Retail Cross-Channel Capabilities
This suggests that the major growth opportunity for retailers lies in their ability to deliver a seamless shopping experience across channels. The store delivers on the promise of orders that begin online. Estimates by leading analysts indicate that by 2012, nearly 40 percent of retail sales will be cross-channel sales. But, the cross-channel shopper is spoiled.So meeting his/her expectations is challenging.
As consumers benefit from a better shopping experience at one retailer, they are going to expect the same experience at other retailers. Regardless of the retail segment, consumers are experiencing the advantages of cross-channel capabilities and therefore expecting more. The end result is usually an unsatisfied customer … one less likely to be loyal. Retailers need loyal customers to drive profits, so they must deliver a cross-channel shopping experience, and the store is a critical customer touch point in doing this.
