Report: Only 3 Percent of Retailers Identify Customers In-Store With Smart Phones

While nearly three-quarters of retailer are planning to develop the capacity to identify customers when they walk in the store via their smartphones is a top priority for retailers, at present only 3 percent have the ability to do so right now, according to a new report from Boston Retail Partners.

“Consumers want a seamless shopping experience across all channels. Next-generation retailing requires identifying, accessing and processing customer data immediately and in real-time, regardless of which shopping channel the customer chooses to conduct business,” said Brian Brunk, principal at BRP.

Other findings from BRP’s  2014 CRM/Unified Commerce Benchmark Survey indicated that nearly all (95 percent) of merchants named customer experience/ customer engagement is one of their top three current initiative.  The survey also found that 16 percent currently have real-time retail from POS (which offers the “Amazon” experience in the store) and another 63 percent plan to implement within five years

Merchants are also interested in developing their knowledge base about their customers – 81 percent have implemented some type of customer database, typically as part of a CRM or loyalty platform and 22 percent of retailers have implemented real-time analytics while 61 percent plan to implement it within two years.

“Unlike cross-channel or even omni-channel strategies, the entire buying process needs to be moved into scope, including gathering information, evaluating and comparing products, deciding, completing the purchase, and delivery or taking home.”

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