46% of UK consumers purchased online for the first time. But will these “first-timers” continue to buy online? As COVID was impacting the entire world, one of the more interesting trends of 2020 was the high volume of consumers who began to purchase online for the first time ever.
For those retailers who were prepared, it became the ideal opportunity to acquire new customers.
In 2021 the research now turns to look at this trend differently: will these “first-timers” continue buying online??
Retail Economics found 32% of “first-timers” will continue with this new online buying habit. Interestingly, this grows to 45% for the 45 to 54-year-old age range.
But why is this percentage not higher?
It comes down to the lack of preparedness of retailers who could not handle the onslaught of online buying resulting in poor end-to-end experiences. The unexpected onslaught of engagement and sales volume increases caused business systems to buckle under the pressure.
It’s ironic to think, retailers hope a higher volume of consumers would engage with them online and when they had the chance, many did not capitalise.
So what's next? ALL business models need to address how they have upset their own customers last year and turn this insight into change that will create meaningful experiences that can scale.
For many businesses, the first step is to engage with a Customer Experience Design specialist who can lead this process and help define what the business needs to look and behave like to meet customer needs.
There is literally a "preparedness-race" going on as we speak because only then can a business capitalise on the opportunity which is here to stay.
This article was as tagged as COVID Retail , Customer Experience Design , Digital Strategy