Study reveals shopper attitudes to in-store location-based services

A global Zebra Technologies survey has found that a significant number of consumers are interested in using location-based services in retail stores, such as mobile coupons and digital shopping maps.

Some 51% of shoppers would be interested in using mobile coupons if they were sent to them based on their location in a store, while 49% and 45% respectively said they would consider using email receipts and digital shopper maps if offered to them during their shopping journey.

These findings are based on research by Zebra Technologies, which looked into the digital shopping habits of consumers around the world in its annual Global Shopper Study.

Other key points of note from the report included 76% of shoppers feel positive about shopping in stores and nearly 50% think technology solutions are helping retailers enable and improve their shopping experiences. Some 52% of shoppers admitted they have showroomed or looked at items in-store but purchased them online, while just over 33% state that their preference for online sales is to collect the product from a retail store.

Lack of trust in retailers after some widely publicised data breaches is clearly still an issue, with only 5% of respondents saying they completely trusted retailers. However, nearly eight in ten respondents said they are willing to share some level of information with retailers, and 64% of shoppers value companies who offer the flexibility to control how personal information is used to tailor experiences.

Nearly 2,000 shoppers were surveyed for the research, which was carried out in the US, Canada, Singapore, Australia, England, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, China, Japan and Thailand. Research Now conducted the survey on behalf of Zebra.

Nick D'Alessio, global retail practice leader at Zebra Technologies, said: "As online and mobile shopping become more prevalent and accepted worldwide, the importance of the customer experience remains high – as noted by the majority of respondents who would buy more merchandise from retailers they believe provide better customer service.

"Mobile technology helps provide real-time visibility of product availability, flexible delivery and payment options – freeing retailers to focus on the shopper experience and delivering personalised service to customers."

Source : Ben Sillitoe – Essential Retail
www.essentialretail.com/news/article/55f2ed9dd29d9-shoppers-seeking-in-store-location-based-services