Overcrowded pedestrian zones, long waiting times in shops and unclear product availability - from the customer's point of view, stationary retail has some disadvantages, especially in the run-up to Christmas. With online shopping, on the other hand, unclear delivery dates and times as well as the lack of a multi-sensory shopping experience can be perceived as annoying. Both stationary shopping and online shopping bring with them certain disruptive factors from the customer's point of view. A lastingly optimized shopping experience therefore promises connected commerce, the linking of online marketplaces with stationary shops.
This is the result of the new "Connected Commerce" study conducted by the Cologne Institute for Retail Research (IFH Köln) in cooperation with mail order company OTTO and ECE Projekmanagement GmbH. In November 2019, 507 consumers were surveyed. Connected Commerce offers the option of viewing the offers of stationary shops on an online marketplace, reserving and picking up products directly on site or having them delivered directly from the shop to your home.
Around two-thirds of the consumers surveyed were interested in Connected Commerce. 75 percent rated the combination of online and offline shopping as easy to understand and modern. "In the digital age, changing customer needs demand reactions from retailers - both online and offline. Connected Commerce addresses the common pain points and, as a hybrid shopping concept, creates a sustainably optimized customer experience and a promising customer retention potential for retailers," explains Dr. Kai Hudetz, Managing Director of IFH Cologne.
Most consumers buy both online and offline, according to the IFH scientists. Both types of shopping are becoming more and more complementary. 45 percent of the stationary purchases are already preceded by an online research. Taking this trend into account, it is particularly important for retailers to use cross-channel offers to meet customers online and offline. Here, the concept of a cross-supplier online marketplace promises promising added customer value in order to clearly view and compare offers.
Especially for last-minute purchases during the Christmas season, Connected Commerce offers attractive perspectives to avoid unnecessary visits to shops or late deliveries. For example, 60 percent of respondents stated that they would use Connected Commerce especially for a purchase two days before Christmas, as they saw the majority of the advantages in the reliable and timely receipt of the product.
According to the IFH study, a particularly large market potential is opened up by the 16 to 29-year-olds, the so-called Smart Natives, who are always reachable via their smartphone. Almost 90 percent of this "forward-looking target group" showed interest in connected commerce. In the opinion of the IFH scientists, this high approval of the younger and smartphone-affine target group also requires a reaction to their demands: In particular, online reservations and central pick-up at the stationary shop are far more important services for the Smart Natives - who are considered to be particularly online affine - than for older consumers.
About IFH Cologne
Founded in 1929 at the University of Cologne, the IFH Cologne is dedicated to scientific research and its application in management practice. On the one hand, there is academic research with an international orientation at the Chair for Retailing and Customer Management (Director: Prof. Werner Reinartz). On the other hand, the for-profit IFH and the associated E-Commerce Center (ECC) generate business-oriented data, write application-oriented research projects and recurring studies, and organize industry conferences.