94% of consumers research a product online, before heading in store to purchase says new survey.
A new survey has underlined the growing importance of omnichannel in UK retail.
The survey of 1,056 UK adults carried out by digital marketing agency, Marketingsignals.com, found that 85% of people still prefer to physically purchase products in-store, despite the convenience of online shopping.
82% of these say that this is because they prefer to receive the product as soon as they’ve purchased it.
In addition, nine in ten (94%) UK shoppers said they will research a product online before going into store to purchase.
Meanwhile, the research found that 78% of consumers prefer to go into store to see and feel a product before going online to shop around for the best price.
“Retailers who utilise digital technologies to drive in store footfall, while tracking and attributing customers to their digital spend are setting themselves up most likely to succeed in the modern age,” said Gareth Hoyle, md of Marketingsignals.com. “In an ideal world, consumers would rather visit a store to make a purchase, though due to time constraints, stock issues and ultimately, convenience, many turn to shopping online.
“This is a lesson for retailers to ensure their digital presence is working as hard as it possibly can for them, offering an omnichannel journey and an experience that is most convenient for customers.”
Gareth continued: “Retailers with a loyalty scheme or e-receipt service are proving to be the most savvy with attributing digital spend to in store footfall as they know who their customer is and can attribute in store sales to their email address – the same email address that Google can link back to their search history and record of which ads they were presented with.”
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