ComCorp, Inc. Articles

Consumers Has Demands for Online Retailers

As the holiday seasons draw near, online retailers are expecting again to receive a heavy volume of purchases from consumers who want to avoid the holiday rush in many physical stores. Yet as a recent survey shows, this might not likely be the case for retailers who want to maintain current customers seem to not agree with.

According to a study conducted by Sterling Commerce, 57 percent of American shoppers wanted to be able to return or exchange products in-store even if it was bought from a website, shop, or catalogue. Opening online and offline sales outlets, the study indicate, may well benefit online retailers as well as it does consumers.

“As retailers ramp up for the biggest shopping event of the year—the holidays,” says Jim Bengier, a leading retail executive from Sterling Commerce, “their readiness to address today’s cross-channel customers’ expectations could decide their success.”

The cross-channel experience, also called multi-channel experience for the flexibility it renders to the consumer, according to the executive, has “spoiled” consumers. This, he says, “raises the bar for every retailer.” In other words, pressure sets in for online retailers, as consumers demand revision of return guarantees and such policies in the marketplace.

The Sterling study also found a recognizable two-thirds of consumers expecting to change or cancel orders through any available channel. This ranks as a major demand of today’s consumer. With the coming of the holiday season, more and more consumers want easier changing and cancellation of orders. Most of the time, this is difficult to do with high traffic in the internet during the holidays.

As it is with most retailers, internet prices are not necessarily the same with in-store prices. The same holds true with promotions and other deals. What is offered online is not the same as in-store. Another finding from the Sterling Commerce was that consumers said they wanted retailers to make checking product availability and prices in stores easier. This becomes especially in the holiday season.

Only a few consumers have also indicated they use the internet for product availability. A stark 13 percent of consumers say they checked the web for product availability. A small percentage compared to the number of consumers demanding much more freedom in purchasing policies and conditions. Of the 13 percent, half say they would go to a competitor and a fifth say they would cancel the entire order, giving online retailers much to think or rather, rethink about.

Moreover, the study reveals forty-percent of customers saying that sales staff are unable to tell the availability of items in another location, when such are unavailable in the area. During the holidays, availability of a product can become a customer issue for retailers. That is why 54 percent of consumers say retailers should locate and ship products free of charge to consumers when not available—a demand that might rightly influence the decision of management this holiday season.

When consumers speak through surveys, retailers ought to listen. As Jim Bengier says it himself, “The success of retailers this holiday season depends on considering such demands.”