The message from the show floor at this year's National Retail Federation (NRF) Big Show is that the digital crowd has now come of age and is setting the pace on Main Street. The retailers I spoke to at the event demonstrated they're now fully engaged with the challenges of providing omnicommerce to their customers.
Rick Chavie
The retail industry is a prime target for fraud and data breaches. One of the reasons why the retail industry is so attractive to fraudsters is because every transaction has the potential to yield multiple types of customer data associated with credit and debit cards, whether it comes from infecting in-store technology or if data is stored elsewhere. Contrary to what you may think, however, brick-and-mortar retailers, which carefully deploy heavily tested and proven point-of-sale (POS) software to handle critical checkout tasks in-store, may be struggling more than online retailers, who have much more frequent updates to their order and payment applications to protect customers’ sensitive personal data and banking information.
Smartphones are now a driving force for omnichannel and e-commerce adoption across the world, transforming the way consumers shop and interact with brands. However, in their efforts to reach consumers in every channel and beat the competition, many brands are missing the mark with mobile commerce. Retailers often regard mobile as a separate commerce engine instead of focusing on delivering a seamless commerce experience across all channels and touchpoints.
Autofill and #AmazonCart are the tip of a rather large iceberg in e-commerce — i.e., the development of truly effortless shopping and purchasing experiences. By strategically evaluating the seamlessness and convenience of the customer experience now, online retailers can position themselves to stay ahead of the curve in the months and years ahead.
This past holiday season was unfavorable for many online retailers that struggled to deliver orders in time for Christmas, provided subpar customer support, faced inventory and out-of-stock issues, and, at times, even delivered the wrong product. Website functionality also fell short as a large portion of online retailers’ shopping experiences consisted of outdated websites with limited functionality, slow load times and insufficient product details. This caused frustration and disappointment among consumers, driving them to shop at brick-and-mortar retailers. Online retailers need to take action to enhance customer satisfaction. Here are three steps e-merchants can take to solve some of the most common online shopping experience mishaps:
