The modern day merchant must have an intimate understanding of the importance of online and mobile commerce, access to a vast array of customer data, and a strategy for transforming this analytical data into winning online experiences. The question is: who inside the company can embody these traits and help the CEO rule the roost?
A new IBM study of 26,000 global consumers found that shoppers are becoming increasingly open to buying both online and in-store depending on their needs at time of purchase. While more than 80% of shoppers chose the store to make their last non-grocery purchase, only half are committed to returning there next time they buy. According to this infographic from IBM, 35% of shoppers said they couldn’t say for sure where their next purchase would be coming from, online or in-store.
According to the IBM study, nearly half of online purchases resulted from “showrooming,” and nearly a quarter of these online shoppers intended to buy their item in the store, but ultimately purchased online.