UserADgents, the French technology firm, has carried out a large-scale study of consumer preferences and concluded that, rather than being defunct, bricks-and-mortar retailing must “reinvent itself” in a climate in which IT increasingly impacts how advertising and shopping take place, LSA-Conso.fr reports.
The company suggests that retailers should focus on three tangible shopping objectives: building a positive point-of-sale experience for shoppers, offering consumers in-house consultation and advice, and employing m-commerce properties, such as e-coupons.
UserADgents points out that although 47 per cent of people who took part in the survey component of its research visit shops less often than they did five years ago, 90 per cent of purchases in France still take place in store. It can be easy to overlook this reality in the midst of regular news regarding the growing presence of e-commerce.
The group says that it is up to retailers to “take the best of the web and technology and use it to breathe new life” into physical retailing.
© 2015 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Peter Donnelly. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
