Studies ID better ways to engage shoppers

Customer experience continues to evolve, and two new reports shed light on how merchants and brands can better engage shoppers, both for this holiday season and through the new year.

by Kristina Knight

First, out from Vertabrae, new data that indicates augmented reality is one key area for experience. Their data found that, of those who have tried AR for retail buys, most (78%) prefer AR to simple video content or ads. The preference comes from being able to "see" new sofas, desks, or even clothing among a consumers current pieces.

The problem is that currently on about 20% of consumers have actually tried retail-based AR; many more have tried other kinds of AR - that in games or travel-based experiences. That could also be a plus, though, because the potential for adoption and usage have much room to grow.

"AR offers a tremendous opportunity for any brand, especially retailers," said Vince Cacace, CEO of Vertebrae. "While most of today's AR experiences are on Snapchat and Facebook, consumers said they would prefer to use AR to help them with purchasing decisions. To keep pace, retailers need to invest in practical uses of AR to build consumer confidence, and drive sales while decreasing high cost returns."

Specific to this holiday season, new data out from Clutch indicates more merchants and brands should be taking a page from Amazon's user experience. That, because 21% of consumers believe Amazon's UX outperforms that of Facebook, YouTube, and even Netflix. In fact, Amazon had the highest user experience rankings.

The study also found that consumers are primarily returning to websites for useful content (48%) and simple navigation (24%).

More trends from the Clutch report can be found here.

Tags: advertising, augmented reality, Clutch, customer experience, ecommerce, Vertabrae