Recent research indicates that online customer satisfaction is high, while in-store experiences lag behind. Learn how you can meet your customers’ expectations.
Increased online customer satisfaction changes expectations in store
In a previous blog, we looked at how the pandemic has driven a shift from in-store to digital shopping.
Since the start of the pandemic, there's been a marked uptick in use of digital shopping channels, and a corresponding drop in reliance on brick-and-mortar stores. While this trend has been occurring for years, it increased exponentially in 2020. Merchants have clearly stepped up to the plate, providing digital experiences that customers find more satisfying.
These are two of the key trends revealed by the PYMNTS Global Digital Shopping Index reports, developed in collaboration with Cybersource, and based on four country surveys.
As shoppers turn to digital channels, in-store shopping declines
According to the reports, in-store shopping remains popular with a majority of customers, but its share has dropped since the pandemic began. The reports indicate that this reduction is likely driven—to some extent, at least—by consumer wariness about the safety of in-store shopping, coupled with regional restrictions on non-essential in-store retail during the pandemic.
Source: The Global Digital Shopping Index reports, Cybersource and PYMNTS, 2020.
The U.K. stands out for the scale of its shift: today, only 54 percent of U.K. consumers prefer wholly in-store shopping experiences.
Online customer satisfaction is higher than for other shopping channels
According to the reports: "One factor unites consumers across the four studied markets: They all regard purchasing in stores as the most friction-filled means of shopping and they tend to look to digital shopping tools to ameliorate these frictions and otherwise enhance their shopping experiences."
The reports have sought to "quantify this through our Consumer Satisfaction Index, which assigns scores to various aspects of the shopping process based on the satisfaction consumers report getting from them—or the lack thereof."
Source: "The 2020 Global Digital Shopping Index, Brazil Edition," Cybersource and PYMNTS, 2020, p. 26.
The reports reveal that customer satisfaction appears to be especially influenced by the availability of digital features that offer convenience and value—such as rewards, product details and recommendations, and inventory information tools.
Convenience and value: a must for every channel
To maintain online customer satisfaction, merchants should integrate into their digital channels the features that add convenience and value to the shopping experience. And let's not forget in-store shopping: The Global Shopping Index reports indicate that a majority of consumers in all the studied regions still prefer it, but they would like it to offer more of the digital-first features they've come to love.
With creative commerce solutions, merchants will be better placed to deliver more satisfying shopping journeys in every channel, and provide features and experiences that keep customers coming back. In our next blog, we discuss two of the most popular digital features: rewards and contactless payments.
Learn more about online customer satisfaction and download the PYMNTS Global Digital Shopping Index reports.
Source:
1 The 2020 Global Digital Shopping Index, U.K. Edition, Cybersource and PYMNTS, 2020, p. 2.
2 The 2020 Global Digital Shopping Index, Brazil Edition, Cybersource and PYMNTS, 2020, p. 26.
3 The 2020 Global Digital Shopping Index, Brazil Edition, Cybersource and PYMNTS, 2020, p. 27.