Inmar Intelligence, an applied data platform company, today announced findings from a recent survey of 300 employees at U.S.-based grocery and retail brands who are in middle management level and above to find out what they are investing in to improve customer experiences. The survey examined if grocers and retailers are investing in e-commerce platforms given the rise in online grocery shopping, if they are keeping grocery curbside pickups, what technology they are implementing for personalization, how they’re investing in promotions and their thoughts on marketplace providers.
Online shopping is now one of the most popular online activities worldwide, and a forecast from Statista predicted that by the end of 2021, the number of online buyers globally will exceed 2.14 billion with e-retail revenues projected to grow to 5.4 trillion U.S. dollars in 2022. Aware of this growth, Inmar Intelligence’s survey reveals what retailers are doing about it and how they plan to keep those shoppers engaged for both online and in-store shopping.
When asked about the threat that digital marketplace providers like Instacart pose to their business, Inmar Intelligence found that 85 percent think that the platforms are trying to compete with them to eventually set up their own distribution centers.
Additional key findings from the survey include:
- 89 percent of these respondents are actively improving the in-store and online experiences for their shoppers, and 87 percent view technology investment for upgrading their e-commerce platform as a focal point and high priority for providing better shopper experiences.
- 89 percent said they have a system in place to understand their customer experience to make sure that their in-store and online experiences get top-rated.
- With the popularity of order pickups, 85 percent are investing in dedicated spaces in their stores for efficient to-go orders.
- For online shopping experiences, 82 percent said that they intend to invest in personalization technology and event meal-planning tools.
- In terms of discounts, 84 percent of respondents said that they recognized the value of these offers and intend to invest more in promotions for their online channels.
- Because shoppers are mixing in-store and online shopping, 80 percent said that they are utilizing in-store shopping behavior to personalize the digital shopping experience.
“We know from previous Inmar Intelligence surveys that shoppers are moving forward with a mix of in-store and online shopping, so this survey really took that a notch further and revealed how retailers are improving both in-store and online experiences to keep shoppers happy and meet expectations,” says Rob Weisberg, SVP, e-commerce Technology and Services, at Inmar Intelligence. “What was most interesting to me is how retailers are mimicking in-store shoppers' behaviors for online shopping experiences and are exploring more personalization options like meal prepping tools. In-store shopping will never go fully away, so retailers still need to pay as much attention to those experiences as online and this survey shows that.”
To help these retailers and grocers, Inmar’s Intelligent e-commerce, a differentiated white-label solution, recognizes the shopper across all their devices and in-store, remembers their dietary preferences to personalize their experience, and integrates with their rewards program so they are automatically rewarded. In addition to providing a more relevant experience for shoppers, Inmar’s e-commerce offering is completely customizable, so the retailer’s digital brand is a natural extension of the in-store brand.
For more information about Inmar Intelligence, please visit our e-commerce page.