Editor's Note: Total Retail Releases its 2022 Top 100 Omnichannel Retailers Report

The sixth annual Top 100 Omnichannel Retailers report was released late last month by Total Retail. The report features a ranking of 100 leading retailers and brands based on the omnichannel capabilities across their organizations (e.g., supply chain, pricing, loyalty, payments), and the execution of those programs. It identifies the companies doing the best job of delivering frictionless cross-channel shopping experiences.

Consumers’ shopping journeys are non-linear; they’re shifting back and forth between digital and physical channels when making purchase decisions before ultimately transacting. Retailers must have technology systems and processes in place to account for this consumer behavior and deliver a positive customer experience. The seamless integration (or lack thereof) of online and offline channels, from product discovery through post-purchase support, influences consumers’ purchase decisions and subsequent loyalty.

To complete the 2022 evaluation, Total Retail visited each retailer’s website as well as one of its brick-and-mortar stores, judging them on the following eight omnichannel criteria:

1. the ability for customers to buy online, pick up in-store and/or curbside;
2. the ability to search for in-store product availability on a brand’s digital properties (desktop site, mobile site, mobile app);
3. shared cart across channels for logged-in shoppers (e.g., mobile to desktop);
4. the ability for loyalty points to be earned and redeemed across channels;
5. cross-channel product returns (e.g., return online purchases in-store);
6. ship-from-store/endless aisle;
7. pricing consistency across channels; and
8. mobile payments accepted in-store, including storage of payment data within app or mobile site.

This report is sponsored by Saddle Creek Logistics Services, a provider of omnichannel logistics solutions, including warehousing, fulfillment and transportation. The evaluations were conducted in July and August.

“Today’s shoppers have grown more sophisticated and have high expectations around ease of purchase,” notes Perry Belcastro, senior vice president, fulfillment, at Saddle Creek Logistics Services. “To provide an optimal omnichannel experience, retailers need to ensure consumer-friendly functionality for point of purchase, inventory access, and returns. It’s also essential to offer optimal economy and priority shipping options.”

So which retailers are doing that well?

Nordstrom earned the No. 1 spot in this year’s rankings, earning all 11 of the total points available. Ace Hardware, JCPenney, Sportsman’s Warehouse, and Staples tied for second place, earning 10.5 points each. Best Buy and DSW followed closely, receiving 10.25 points each.

When analyzing the scores by product category, the top performers were Office Supplies, with an average score of 10.13 for the brands within the category (although the category had just two retailers), and Department Stores, with an average score of 9.47. At the bottom of the category rankings was Jewelry, with an average score of 7.88 for the brands within that group.

In addition to evaluating and ranking individual retailer’s execution of various of omnichannel shopping experiences, the report yielded some interesting industry trends:

• All of the 100 retailers evaluated offer at least some form of BOPIS and/or curbside pickup. However, it’s important to note that just one-fifth of the retailers earned full credit for this criterion, indicating there’s opportunity for improvement with these services (e.g., communication, inventory transparency, fulfillment speed).
• Similarly, all of the top 100 omnichannel retailers enable customers to return purchases across channels. However, just 10 percent of the merchants earned full credit for this criteria category. With more consumers opting to make purchases online, it stands to reason that return rates for many product categories (e.g., apparel, footwear) are at all-time highs. Recognizing this dynamic, retailers are investing resources to enable frictionless cross-channel product returns, particularly the return of online orders in-store.
• Eighty percent of retail loyalty program members can earn and redeem points/rewards across multiple transaction channels (online, in-store, app, etc.), although certain exceptions exist with several of the retailers evaluated.

This report offers valuable benchmark data on omnichannel operations across a multitude of functional areas (e.g., inventory, order fulfillment, payments, pricing), enabling merchants to measure themselves against their competitors as well as the leading organizations in the industry. It should also serve as a prompt to conduct a self-audit of your company’s omnichannel capabilities, identifying areas of strength — which can be leveraged as differentiators — as well as areas of weakness.

You can download the report here to see the full rankings as well as profiles of the top performers. In addition, there is valuable trend information extracted from this year's data.