What factors most greatly influence shoppers purchasing decisions?
That's what ombichannel commerce platform Kibo Commerce set out to discoring with its second annual Consumer Trends Report (2017 edition).
The report found that personalization, price and fulfillment are key influencers on the path to pruchase and today's consumers are increasingly gaining high expectations for a unified shopping and brand experience across all purchasing channels and touchpoints.
Other key purchase influencers included individualizing offers and recommendations throughout the online experience, providing multiple fulfillment options and having an interactive yet simplified shopping experience. Consumers also indicated a high expectation of retailers to access a global view of their online and offline behavior.
Additional highlights from the study include:
+ Personalizing a consumer's experience can have a big impact on their path to purchase, with 85% stating they are influenced by personalized home page promotions and 92% stating personalized shopping cart recommendations influence them to complete a purchase.
+ Price was a top factor for consumers when considering a purchase, followed by product brand and retailer website brand. The survey indicated that 76% of consumers regularly price-check competitors, up from 66% from last year's survey.
+ 81% of consumers said they have looked up inventory on a retailer's website before visiting the store and 80% are less inclined to visit a store if a website does not provide current product availability (up 24% from last year).
+ Top influencers on completing an online purchase include interactive content (92%), product reviews (82%), simplified shopping cart (78%), and multiple fulfillment options (66%).
"As consumer behaviors, expectations, and demands continue to rise, retailers and brands equipped with the latest data will be better prepared to win in the new year," says Tushar Patel, CMO, Kibo. "In order to satisfy consumers with high expectations of a cohesive experience no matter the touchpoint, merchants need to do a holistic evaluation of their commerce programs. Knowing where to focus efforts will allow them to make changes that provide the biggest impact to customer satisfaction, loyalty, and ultimately the bottom line."
