Innesco survey, in partnership with Maybe*, reveals what consumers want from their shopping experience

For the last MAPIC edition, Innesco has teamed up with Maybe to collect consumers’ insights around Europe about “What is the future for retail and entertainment in our towns and cities?” This social listening project has delivered over 45,000 valuable thoughts into what consumers really want from their shopping experience.

Change is coming to the retail industry, steering retailers to most importantly take the time to understand how their customers shop and what are their expectations of the shopping experience. This question was at MAPIC, the world’s leading retail real estate conference, that took place over three days last November in Cannes with “Transforming reality - Physical in the age of Digital” as this year’s theme. Innesco took this opportunity to offer inspiring and considered answers from 1m people using a combination of social listening, AI and chatbot technology through Maybe* platform.

The report reveals that shoppers’ behaviour is significantly influenced by online research. 59% of consumers consult their phones in-store on purchases they are about to make, which stresses the importance for many retailers to strengthen their social media presence. Consumers are the real influencers; good reviews and ‘instagrammable’ stores are key ingredients for consumers in their buying decisions. With shoppers switching seamlessly between social media, physical stores and e-commerce, enhancing a brand’s online research resources should be a key priority of a digital transformation initiative.

However, in this digital strategy, what has been mostly overlooked is the lack of digital shopping experiences with only 14% of respondents claim to have had a digital experience in a store that has “blown their socks off”. Consequently, there is an opportunity for retailers to embrace digital innovations and grab omnichannel consumers’ attention with unique in-store experiences that consumers can share on social media and in their reviews.

Another important takeaway from the survey for what shoppers really want in 2019 and beyond is the emergence of cinema visitors as shoppers. Indeed, the report shows that 39% of shoppers said a cinema is most likely to draw them to a shopping centre, with 21% of them said they would also shop. Cinemas still have something that streaming can’t match, remaining an interesting investment for any shopping centre considering this offering.

These meaningful insights provide further opportunities to target relevant online conversations in the social media space and deliver for 2019 what consumers want.

Dan Innes, MD of Innesco says:

“This social listening project is the first of its kind and the largest ever undertaken in any sector – just another example showcasing how Innesco uses technology, data, and other innovations to conduct research and deliver its findings in effective ways. It's fascinating to see so much valuable data for the retail industry we can collect through social media listening. The latest is a powerful tool to see how consumer views match up against that of professionals working inside the sector and how to respond to it accordingly."

Polly Barnfield OBE, CEO of Maybe* adds:

“The findings of the project have highlighted the importance of stores being active participants in those conversations to drive their footfall.”

Find out more about the findings of the report here.