BackDate:01 December 2010
ANALYST RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS NEED FOR RETAILERS TO PROVIDE A UNIFIED CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
1 December, 2010 – hybris, a leading multichannel commerce software
vendor, has announced the findings of research it has commissioned from
IDC looking at how retailers can improve their sales and customer
retention through improved multichannel planning and customer service.
The research, entitled “Unified Retailing – Breaking Multichannel
Barriers” (dated September 2010), cites the fact that store sales
influenced by online customer research are three to four times larger
than total e-commerce sales. The implications for retailers are clear;
unless they start to cater for the increasingly sophisticated customer
across all channels, overall sales will suffer.
IDC has identified what it calls the “omnichannel” customer.
According to Ivano Ortis, Research Director, IDC Retail Insights, who
wrote the report; “Multichannel shoppers spend, on average, 15%–30%
more with a retailer than someone who uses only one channel. IDC Retail
Insights estimates that omnichannel shoppers will spend over 20% more
than multichannel consumers, will exhibit strong loyalty, and will
influence others to patronize the retailer.”
In order to get sales from this increasingly important type of
customer, IDC advises retailers to ensure that they are providing a
“unified, converged channel approach by supporting full technology and
process integration between all of the selling channels – meaning a
single, logical view of the shopper, the order, and the inventory
regardless of the channel.”
IDC further believes that the traditional focus on same-store sales, or
new acquisition of customers through eCommerce, is now shifting to
“same shopper” sales, tracking how individual shoppers are buying goods
and services across different stores and channels. Mobile commerce adds
a further edge to this, with consumers able to do price comparison and
product reviews in real-time, whilst on the move. Retailers now need to
cater for this additional channel and ensure that these potential or
existing customers buy through the desired brand, channel or outlet.
Ortis further commented; “We advise retailers to (have) ... a single,
logical view of the shopper, the order, and the inventory regardless of
the channel. Unified retailing requires the adoption of real-time
multichannel management systems with embedded analytics that can
integrate disparate customer selling front-end systems with back-end
platforms (supply chain, merchandise management). Mobile will (also) be
a key enabler of unified retail consumer experiences.”
Ariel Lüdi, CEO of hybris; “This research from IDC clearly shows how
multichannel is quickly evolving in the face of increasingly
sophisticated consumer buying behavior to a more agile and dynamic
environment where retailers need to provide a complete package of
pricing, product information and buying experience that will draw in
new customers and maintain existing customer loyalty. Without the
proper product content management (PCM) and multichannel commerce
solutions encompassing mobile commerce, retailers will struggle to
provide this environment, critical to sales success in 2011.”
To download a copy of the IDC report, “Unified Retailing – Breaking Multichannel Barriers”, please go to: www.hybris.com/idcmcreport
About hybris
(
www.hybris.com),
hybris is a leading vendor of next generation agile multichannel
commerce software. Its clear vision about the need for consistency,
co-ordination and personalisation of information across all channels
and throughout all phases of the customer lifecycle has resulted in the
development of an integrated, agile solution which supports the
industrialisation and automation of operational marketing and sales
processes. It is spearheading innovation in this field, enabling
businesses to communicate and sell across all channels in a consistent
and effective way.
Established in 1997, hybris has a proven track record of profitability
and growth, with ambitious expansion plans for the future.
Headquartered in Munich, it has offices in the U.S., UK, Netherlands,
Switzerland, Austria, France, Italy and Sweden. Its international
presence is extended via a dedicated network of business and technology
partners across Europe and the USA. It has over 240 customers worldwide
running more than 2,000 websites "powered by hybris". Customers are
global brands from retail and manufacturing industries, including:
Adidas, Levi´s, Lufthansa, Nespresso, Toys´R´Us, Coca Cola Beverages,
Ericsson, Rexel, Bobcat and Kaiser+Kraft.
For further information please contact:
Julie Kirby or James Cooper
Ascendant Communications
Tel: +44 (0) 7956 955625
E-mail:
jkirby@ascendcomms.net /
jcooper@ascendcomms.net