Omnichannel Adoption Report Shows Half Of Retailers Falling Behind

WBR Digital and eTail just released a new benchmarking report on retail omnichannel adoption.

The report is based on the responses of 98 executives from multiple sectors — specialty retail, stand apparel, high-end fashion and more — who are all leaders in either multichannel, pure-play, in-store only or other types of retail.

Here are some of the key findings.

Seventy-five percent of retailers consider an omnichannel either extremely or somewhat essential to their business. Even so, only 51 percent are actively investing in an omnichannel strategy. Of those who are currently investing in omnichannel, 72 percent plan to invest even more in the future.

Only 7 percent of respondents answered that their company is fully omnichannel-integrated, while 64 percent are working toward completion. Twenty-nine percent reported that they are not at all integrated.

Compared to the previous year, 76 percent of businesses saw increased website traffic, and 56 percent saw increased customer retention by way of repeat sales.

Among the greatest challenges for adopting an effective omnichannel strategy, 39 percent of retailers noted legacy systems, 24 percent listed IT integration, 19 percent listed inventory management, and fewer referenced fulfillment and data silos.

Retail executives believe a seamless customer experience across channels is the most important benefit of omnichannel, answered 53 percent of those surveyed.