Social media is becoming increasingly important to brands, with 54% of visitors to a retailer’s social media platform admitting their perception of the brand changed, according to a new survey.
The study, from GSI Commerce, also found that a third of consumers use social and mobile channels to directly contact and complain to brands
The study found that despite the fact that shopping online is set to rival the high-street as the consumer’s shopping preference, e-channel opportunities remain unlocked.
In fact, the results showed that almost 90 per cent of shoppers felt that retailers could do more to attract them to their websites.
Increasingly, consumers are using their internet browser for window shopping before they visit the high street, with shoppers taking an integrated approach to their purchasing habits. Ultimately what consumers find online can determine whether they will visit a retailer’s high street store, highlighting how significant the channel is.
Given that 71 per cent of women surveyed ‘window shop’ online, the potential for translating browsing into actual sales is immense.
Online shopping is proving popular for the convenience and flexibility it offers. Of those surveyed, 27 per cent said that they preferred shopping online because of the choice, 10 per cent because the delivery options are broader and more adaptable and 7 per cent because the features, service and product information available on a retailer’s website is better than in store.
When it comes to online, best practice lies in establishing what most entices consumers to stay longer on-site, as opposed to taking their business to a competitor.
Retailers must now take notice of what consumers are looking for when they visit their websites, taking on board customer feedback and tailoring their sites based on customer insights to optimise sales.
For example, the report results show that over half (56 per cent) of consumers interested in online fashion outlets, like being able to filter searches by size, colour and price over any other online feature.
Conversely, value retailers need to ensure that customer views and opinions are given a public platform on their websites. The results showed that for these retailers, 46 per cent of their consumers said other customers’ reviews and feedback was one of the key factors in making a purchasing decision.
Hosein Moghaddas, VP & MD International of GSI Commerce commented: “The online fashion buying boom is long overdue, primarily due to the problem that consumers had with not being able to touch and feel items by buying online. However, it’s clear that fashion retailers have pulled out all the stops to eliminate this issue by installing features including advanced zoom facilities, interactive catwalks and 360 rotation options. Most of the leading fashion brands now have these options widely available, and it appears to have worked.
Bridging the gap between online and the high street should work both ways between the channels for an integrated experience. One initiative favoured by 42 per cent of the consumers, was to see more online kiosks within multichannel fashion retailers’ stores which allowed them to browse a brand’s entire product range and select delivery options and times from the shop floor.
Investing in new social and mobile channels will also prove rewarding for retailers according to the report results. Despite being in its infancy, social shoppers that did interact with any fashion retailer’s Facebook page, more than two thirds (67 per cent) stated that they do so more than five times a day. Social forums have been identified as a primary way for consumers to search retailers latest offers (49 per cent) and to enter competitions (48 per cent), with these shoppers going on to share these deals within their own networks.
Furthermore, over half (54 per cent) of these social shoppers believe conversations they’ve had on a brand’s fan page of a social media platform changed their perception of a brand. This was more true for male consumers, where 68 per cent of respondents said that their perception of fashion retailer is more likely to be changed through social and mobile engagement than that of the female customer (46 per cent).
Social channels have also been identified as an important way for consumers to interact and feedback directly to brands, with a third of respondents saying they were using it as a means of getting a direct answer to questions or complaints.
Moghaddas continues: “It is now imperative that fashion retailers give shoppers the same shopping experience at every level. In this ‘omnichannel’ era where the consumer is king, it is of no consequence to your audience which channel they use, or whether a retailer is out of stock of an item in one store. Brands now have everything at their disposal to make sure that their customer’s shopping experience is completely synchronised, regardless of where they are searching.”
To view the full report, click here