Report: Businesses Worried About Customer Journey
How The Pandemic Changed Ecommerce
According to many experts the pandemic has fundamentally changed how consumers are engaging with brands. From a significant increase in online shopping spending to consumers now using physical stores to ”showroom” products prior to purchasing to more shoppers wanting the convenience of online shopping but the instant gratification of same-day pickup, merchants and brands are struggling to keep up.
According to new data out from Uberall and Forrester, many businesses worry they are not set up to deliver the kinds of seamless experiences that consumers are now expecting.
“Customers no longer distinguish between online and offline, and expect seamless experiences regardless of the channel used to interact with a business – an expectation intensified by the pandemic,” said Florian Hubner, CEO & Founder, Uberall. ”This new study…reveals just how difficult it is for organizations to break down departmental silos and connect disparate systems to create a seamless end-to-end hybrid customer journey.”
Fragmented Teams Confound Business Owners
Researchers with Forrester found that most of the businesses they surveyed (70%) aren’t confident in their ability to deliver a seamless, hybrid experience to their customers. What’s more, 3 in 4 say that digital infrastructure – like QR codes, self checkouts, and contactless payments – is key to success. However, nearly half (45%) say those same options are the hardest implementations to make.
Other worries: about 65% worry that their infrastructure doesn’t support data tracking or customer behavior analysis across the digital and in-store experiences. Another worry: only about 25% of companies are handling customer journey analysis and strategy in-house.
“As people return to in-person activities, the digital conveniences they have become accustomed to will not just disappear,” said Tijs van Santen, Chief Customer Officer, Uberall. ”Companies that look to smartly engage with customer across the digital and real world – making it easy and enjoyable for customer to do business with them – will gain consumer trust and loyalty.”
