Sunday, November 24

Despite E-comm Rise, Offline Stores Generating 91% Sale: Study

Despite rise in e-commerce business, brick and mortar stores still generate 91 per cent sales globally, a study has claimed.

“Despite the rise of e-commerce, the physical stores still draw a significant shopping crowd. In fact, 91 per cent of all retail sales are still being generated in brick-and-mortar stores,” the study released by Zebra Technology said today.

Zebra Technology interviewed nearly 1,700 retail decision-makers across various retail segments, including speciality stores, department stores, apparel merchants, supermarkets, electronics, home improvement and drugstore chains, globally in 2016.

“Around 28 per cent of the sample size were taken from Asia Pacific. Findings at Asia Pacific level are reflective of trends in India,” Zebra Regional Sales Director for India and Sub-Continent Deep Agarwal said.

The study said that retailers are implementing an omni-channel approach by which the online and physical platforms are no longer at loggerheads, but complement each other in driving customer satisfaction.

It said that 73 per cent of retailers will reinvent their supply chain with real-time visibility enabled by use of automation, sensors, and analytics in their stores.

In Asia Pacific, retailers are looking to create a seamless shopper experience with 76 per cent of APAC respondents reporting that it is important or business-critical to integrate e-commerce and in-store experiences.

“By 2021, nearly 76 per cent of retailers in APAC will be able to customise the store visit for customers as a majority of them will know when a specific customer is in the store. This will be enabled through technology such as micro-locationing, allowing retailers to capture more data, accuracy and customer insights,” the study said.

It said that micro-locationing is gaining foothold in the retail space as such platforms help retailers gain insights into shoppers’ behaviours and paths in a given store, allowing them to make smarter merchandising and marketing decisions.