93% of consumers want both an offline and online experience from retailers

The challenge: In order to innovate, The UK Digital Retail Innovation Centre (UK:DRIC) in Gloucestershire must understand the digital expectations of consumers and how these expectations align with current experiences. 

The approach:  Consumers’ opinions were compared against those of retailers and retail Influencers, highlighting similarities and key differences. 

Over 18,000 consumer opinions were via a Facebook Messenger chatbot. 

The audience was gathered from both a Facebook post (below) and through our GDPR opt-in audience of over 4,000 UK consumers. 

Experience the chatbot for yourself or scan the QR code. 

How to scan

• iPhone  - Open camera and aim at code
• Android - Use a QR code reader app

The results

Presented at the opening of UKDRIC, the insights cover:

• • Retailers’ key areas of focus
  • Retail Influencers’ key areas of focus
  • Over 18,000 consumers’ opinions, including:
    • How consumers want to be communicated with
    • Their thoughts on how retailers personalise the retail experience 
    • How they interact with retailers on social media. 

“Maybe* is helping UK:DRIC investigate and support the development of technologies and solutions for the future high street. We look forward to working with them as they start work on the High Street Task Force with the Institute of Place Management (IPM)”

UK:DRIC

93% of consumers want both an online and offline retail experience

84% of consumers want retailers to communicate with them both online and offline 

55% of consumers feel that retailers don’t take the time or use the right tools to get to know them and their preferences

69% of consumers follow their favourite high street retailers on social media 

Key takeaways

Retail Influencers highlight that keeping up with digital innovation and tech in retail is essential; however, many retailers still focus on granular issues including parking, business issues, and opening hours. 

Interestingly, the retailers we spoke to focus on online competition over the online experience offered to their consumers. Which, according to consumers, offers a key area for growth. 

Focusing only on what everyone else is doing online is the wrong approach. Invest in the digital experience and cross-channel experience you can offer your customer to see better results. 

Sign up for your free trial to see how we gathered these results and to start speaking to your own audience.