Consumer Behavior
Human touch a big consumer want, reveals study
November 16, 2020
Nearly half, 41%, of U.S. consumers view the human touch as an important integral aspect of the retail shopping experience and 31% say the pandemic has ignited a desire for more personalized interactions.
Those are key findings from JRNI research that polled 2,000 U.K. and U.S. consumers regarding holiday shopping behavior, spend and retail customer experience expectations.
In response, retailers will need to adopt new practices to capture and keep consumers for the long-term, according to a press release on the findings.
This holiday season 43% of shoppers plan to spend less and 37% are spending less in Black Friday sales, according to the data. Since the pandemic began last March, 58% have shopped online for items that would previously have been purchased in-store and 36% have explored the very latest channels available, including shopping by appointment, audio and video personal shopping consultations, and click and collect/curbside pickup.
More than half (58%) of U.S. consumers are now far more likely to schedule an appointment to visit a store than they were prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Additional findings include:
- Nearly two-thirds (63%) of U.K. and U.S. consumers say that given the choice of queuing to enter a location or pre-scheduling an appointment, they would opt to secure an appointment.
- 31% of all consumers want omnichannel options like click and collect and curbside pickup to continue post COVID-19.
- 27% are eager to continue to engage with virtual shopping opportunities and consultations via social media and video beyond the current crisis.
"When budgets are tight, retailers have to work harder to compete for spend. It requires recognizing that consumers are far more advanced and willing to embrace new ways of shopping, on and offline, than businesses give them credit for," John Federman, JRNI CEO, said in the release. "We use phrases like 'omnichannel' to describe scenarios as though every consumer wants to move seamlessly across everything a retailer, for example, has to offer. However, we have to turn that idea inside out and remember that for consumers it's all about experience, and always has been. A consumer will choose the experience they want, based on the service or goods they are buying, and then the channel. The businesses that will be rewarded with brand loyalty are those delivering great experiences in stores and online."
