July 26, 2018
Nordstrom local is one of many retailers that offers services such as curbside pickup and buy online, pickup in-store. Image credit: Nordstrom
New research shows that click-and-collect services are more popular among female consumers with higher annual incomes, exhibiting the importance of luxury retailers including these services.
According to Order Dynamics Research, the “click and collect superconsumer” is 24 to 49 years old and has been well versed in omnichannel retail for the last two years. This consumer is also interested in the experience of shopping, needing to touch and feel the products she is purchasing.
"For some time, retailers have asked why they should engage an omni-channel strategy, and The Click & Collect Superconsumer report from OrderDynamics illustrates just why retailers need to engage this strategy," said Charles Dimov, vice president of marketing at OrderDynamics. "By painting a picture of the ideal omni-channel customer, retailers can visualize all the advantages they’d capture by fully executing an omni-channel retail strategy.
"In the research, we found that the ideal customer, or superconsumer, is female, between 24-49 years old, is quite familiar with omni-channel retailing and has been taking advantage of omni-channel for two or more years, and has an annual income of $50k to $100k or higher," he said. "Even more importantly, she buys online, on average, more than 45 times per year. Furthermore, 31 percent of superconsumers shop at least once per week, and 41 percent of the time they use in-store pickup, they make additional, unplanned purchases.
"For retailers, this is an ideal customer. To capture her wallet, retailers must have a complete omni-channel offering, or you will lose the superconsumer’s loyalty to competitors that offer capabilities such as buy online pickup in-store (BOPIS)."
Order Dynamics Research conducted the survey in the second quarter of last year, interviewing 1,600 consumers who shop online in North America in sectors including electronics, toys, clothes, footwear, furniture, sporting goods, photography equipment and jewelry.
Superconsumer
The Rise of the Click and Collect Superconsumer report shows that 37 percent of all shoppers who ordered online for in-store pickup ended up buying more items than expected when coming into the location to collect their items.
However, this percentage rises to 51 percent when looking at just the superconsumer. When picking up items, these shoppers spend an average of $40 more on unintended purchases.
Click and collect superconsumers shop on all channels. Image credit Aventura
The superconsumer expects to pick up their items within 24 hours when ordering online, with 78 percent agreeing with this sentiment.
They would also prefer to return items at bricks-and-mortar locations, with 70 percent saying so.
No platform is out of reach for the superconsumer, with this consumer shopping on all channels. These survey takers claim to shop an average of 45 times a year.
Of the 45 shopping experiences in a year, 23 percent of these instances were shop online and pick up in-store.
The click-and-collect superconsumer is defined as someone who has used these services from two to eight times or more in the last year.
Out of all those in the report, 26 percent of the survey was comprised of superconsumers, 26 percent were considered occasional, 26 percent were non-users and 6 percent were lapsed.
Gen Z values in-store shopping. Image credit: Michael Kors
Occasional users were primarily males making up to $100,000 a year who have only been using these services within the past year.
Non-users were primarily females who earn less than $50,000 a year.
For the superconsumer, clear instructions, close proximity, positive experience, returning items in-store and purchasing additional items are the top habits.
Additional insight
While digital influences up to 75 percent of all in-store visits, retailers have not been keeping pace with shoppers’ preferences, according to a new Boston Retail Partners report.
The consultancy's "Retail’s Digital Crossroads" report examines how retailers who are quick to adjust to today’s non-linear, multichannel shopping journeys will attract more customers. Although retailers have been investing in the digital shopping experience, not all of these investments reflect consumers’ preferences (see story).
Now that retail is so heavily integrated with data, the fraud opportunities are vast and most consumers are concerned with falling victim to an attack.
More than 87 percent of consumers are worried about credit card security when it comes to shopping, according to a survey from Radial. Retailers need to be sure to ease consumers’ fears by providing the utmost security (see story).
"The most surprising finding in the report is the return habits of the superconsumers – 70 percent of superconsumers prefer to return items in-store, which saves retailers the cost of return shipping," Mr. Dimov said "On average, the superconsumer returns 19 items per year, which is substantially lower than other consumers we surveyed.
"Finally, 53 percent of the time superconsumers purchase additional items when they are in the store completing an item’s return," he said. "As you can see, the return habits of superconsumers offer big opportunities for retailers who maximize their omni-channel strategies."
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