New research launched this week by the Australian Centre for Retail Studies (ACRS) suggests that retailers could miss out on enormous sales opportunities if they do not market to their customers consistently across multiple channels.
Titled Value and Optimisation in Multi-Channel Retailing, the ACRS report sheds light on how Australian consumers value different channels in terms of their pre-purchase, purchase and after-sales behavior.
According to a press release, while online sales are expected to increase more than 13 percent annually over the next two years, cross-channel sales are expected to grow by 17 percent. Indeed, by 2012, the report found that nearly half of all retail transactions are expected to be executed by the consumer crossing channels. Today, approximately 36 percent of Australians purchase online at least once a month, with six percent purchasing a product once every week.
The ACRS surveyed 1,000 consumers online across different generations. They were presented with a range of traditional retail channels such as stores, Internet, catalogs, radio and TV as well as emerging channels including iPhone applications, social media, consumer review websites and online video. The respondents were given a hypothetical scenario to purchase a product from one of three categories: clothing and footwear, leisure travel and consumer electronics, and were asked how the channels impacted on their behavior, enjoyment, satisfaction and loyalty.
The report found that today social media, SMS and iPhone applications are among the most popular ways retailers communicate with consumers. 68 percent of Australians have registered to receive emails from retailers and 19 percent opt in to receive communications via SMS. Furthermore, 7 percent of consumers engage with retailers through an iPhone application and an impressive 23 percent of consumers engage through social media.
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New report spells out importance of multichannel marketing
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