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August 29 2007

Are US shopper expectations higher than UK?

While shoppers and multi-channel retailers expect product returns to be handled regardless of channel, some 65% of US shoppers expect to be able to cancel or modify an order via a bricks and mortar store, a retailer's website or call centre regardless of which channel was used to initially place the order.

A survey of 5,000 shoppers conducted by Sterling Commerce shows that shoppers' expectations are increasing along with the number of channels through which they interact with retailers - in-store, online, catalogue/call centre, kiosk, special order, TV, mobile, etc. While this is a US study, many of the attitudes are as relevant for UK retailers.

Another 55% of consumers feel that it is important to be able to complete an order in store, online or via the call centre regardless of which channel was used to initially place the order.

The survey also demonstrated that consumers' online experiences are changing their expectations when they reach the store:

  • 54% find that they can buy products online that are not available in the high street, and 40% like the fact that products are usually in stock online.


  • Two thirds appreciate the ability to research multiple products online at the same time, and nearly half of consumers (45%) feel that they can obtain better product information online than in a store.


  • Only 21% will check another store within the same retailer chain for the item that is out of stock. Nearly half will look for the item at a competitor's store, 13% will order it online instead and about 20% will decide not to purchase it at all.


    • The survey highlighted that communication is key for online shoppers and that good cross-channel customer service increases loyalty:

  • 76% of consumers think that notification of shipping and order fulfilment is very important to their online shopping experience.
  • 54% feel that if a retailer is out of an item, the retailer should locate the out-of-stock item at another location and ship it to the customer for free.
  • 43% find that sales assistants are not able to check availability at the store or at other store locations, and 38% of consumers state that sales assistants cannot determine whether a given product is in stock.


    • Emma Herrod

    This article is tagged as: multi-channel Sterling Commerce

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