Retail & Ecommerce
It's been established that consumers aren't crazy about chatbots for customer service needs. But according to a new study, consumers aren't enamored with any other customer service channel either.
Mobile has become integral to the shopping experience, yet when it comes to transacting—especially in store—US consumers still aren't fully on-board.
The cash culture in Germany is holding back mobile payment adoption in the country. Many people are comfortable paying with cash and don’t see any significant benefits to changing their habits, especially older generations.
For digital sales, delivery might not seem as important as a product itself, but many shoppers judge a retailer on its last-mile capabilities. Loyalty can be made or broken based on cost, speed and accuracy of shipping.
In China, mobile payments have made large inroads thanks to rapid smartphone adoption and the absence of alternative payment methods.
Buy online, pick up in-store is seen as the solution for consumers who don’t want to wait for their package, but according to an OrderDynamics survey, 30.3% of retailers in select countries can confirm an order for pickup—more or less in the same timeframe as standard shipping—in two or more days.
Despite looming tax changes to cross-border ecommerce goods set to go into effect in January, eMarketer expects strong demand for overseas goods in China to continue. In fact, in its latest forecast on China, eMarketer has raised its growth projections for 2019.
India is home to the world’s fastest growing proximity payment market. According to eMarketer estimates, adoption is projected to jump nearly 40% this year.
Food delivery, common in urban areas where population is dense and car ownership is low, is expanding to the suburbs and beyond thanks to the rise of digital services connecting users to restaurants.
According to an August 2018 Pitney Bowes survey of US digital shoppers, 56% of respondents said they encountered an issue while purchasing gifts online last holiday season, up from 36% the prior year.
Even with the ubiquity of digital buying, the in-store shopping experience continues to have importance. And even more so with younger consumers.
This year, 55.0 million people in the US will use mobile payments, making up 20.2% of the population, according to eMarketer estimates.
Alibaba's Singles' Day, China's massive ecommerce festival held annually on November 11, has grown to surpass pretty much every other online shopping event in the world.
Amazon is already one of the top digital retailers in Canada. But that may not be the case with digital grocery, a highly competitive space where established players are vying to fill up virtual shopping carts. eMarketer spoke with Michael LeBlanc, founder and principal of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, about Amazon's role in the country's overall ecommerce landscape and its digital grocery sector.
As artificial intelligence becomes more embedded in everyday experiences, it's logical to assume that consumers are growing more comfortable with it. But while consumers may be open to chatbots in theory, many still prefer to interact with a human customer service agent.
Brand trust has a great deal of sway on purchase behavior, especially when shopping for big-ticket items. According to an October 2018 SurveyMonkey poll, 68% of US internet users said trust in a brand was very influential when making a major purchase.
Mobile payment adoption in the UK isn't as widespread as in other markets, with only 7.2 million people in the country expected to use the payment method this year.
Fueled by low unemployment, strong income growth and high consumer confidence, the holiday shopping season this year will be a strong one for retailers in the US. In its holiday retail forecast, eMarketer has raised its projections from its Q3 2018 forecast, specifically for ecommerce sales and brick-and-mortar retailers.
Companies should have a rubric in place to evaluate and essentially score or rank their current customer set. Such a framework allows marketers and all customer-facing teams to align on how to best serve and grow each individual account in a profitable manner.
Quartile's Daniel Knijik and Alfaparf's Andrea Omodei explain why Amazon is an important sales and marketing tool for brands expanding internationally.