Consumers Increasingly Considering Omnichannel As A Deciding Factor

The more consumers use their smartphones, the more consumers want to use their smartphones, and they tend to reward the retailers that allow them to do so more easily and effectively.

That, in a nutshell, is the takeaway from Astound Commerce’s recently released edition of its annual Mobile Research Survey.

Consumers are spending more time on their phones and increasingly allocating that time to commerce-related pursuits. About a quarter of smartphone owners spend 20 hours a week using their mobile device to research products, buy products or find places to buy products.

And as phones become an increasingly central part of the buying process, consumers are increasingly considering the various capabilities that go along with widespread mobile adoption, such as buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS), inventory access across channels and same-day delivery, when they are deciding to convert from “browser” to “buyer.”

For example, nearly two-thirds of consumers reported having completed at least one BOPIS transaction in the last three months, and of those, 80 percent had picked the product same day (44 percent of those actually grabbed their goods within the first two hours of availability). Moreover, 60 percent of consumers have used their phone to check product availability before embarking on a shopping trip and tend to show preference to the 83 percent of retailers that offer in-store product locators and the 88 percent that provide inventory information about products on the web.

“Consumers want access to product information at all times and value the convenience of viewing in-store inventory from their mobile device for quick decision-making,” said Lauren Freedman, SVP of digital strategy and chief merchant of Astound Commerce. “The lines between the online and in-store experience have blurred, so the more retailers invest in using seamlessly integrating commerce channels, the more the customer experience will improve and purchasing will follow suit.”