Consumers want a personalized and consistent experience across channels, but according to BRP’s 2019 Unified Commerce Survey of top North American retailers, only 28% of retailers offer a shared cart across channels.

Consumers now start and stop their shopping journey in different channels, including online marketplaces and social media, and frequently shop for the same product across different retailers, both online and in the store.

Consumers expect a frictionless shopping experience across an entire brand and they don’t want disruptions as they cross individual channels or locations.

In fact, according to the recent BRP Consumer Study, 87% of consumers are interested in a personalized and consistent experience across channels. Today’s consumers expect their experience to be seamless as their “shopping cart” and browsing history follows them throughout their journey.

“The growth of online and mobile is driving the demand for increased digital capabilities bundled with personalization across all channels,” said Perry Kramer, senior vice president and practice lead at BRP. “To succeed in this demanding environment, retailers must undergo a transformation as they move to a true unified commerce approach to deliver the convergence of the digital and physical shopping experiences and create a holistic customer shopping experience.”

The key findings in the 2019 Unified Commerce Survey include:

 The Mobilization of Retail

• 64% of consumers choose a store based on product information availability via their mobile device
• 41% of retailers plan to improve the mobile experience to ensure they are meeting their customers’ expectations

The E-Commerce Effect

• 81% of consumers purchase online at least once per month and 89% browse online at least once per month
• 71% of retailers plan to offer a live chat option on their website to enhance the online shopping experience within two years

The Changing Customer Experience

• 68% of consumers would choose a store that offers personalized promotions/discounts over a store that doesn’t offer them
• 68% of retailers need to improve their ability to utilize customer insight to meet their customers’ expectations

The Need for Unified Commerce

• 87% of consumers are interested in a personalized and consistent experience across all channels
• 71% of retailers plan to offer the ability to ‘start the sale anywhere, finish the sale anywhere’ to their customers

The Future of Retail

• 57% of consumers would choose a store offering an automated returns process over one that doesn’t offer it
• 38% of retailers plan to offer an automated returns process within two years to offer more self-service opportunities

BRP is a retail management consulting firm dedicated to providing superior service and enduring value to its clients. BRP combines its consultants’ deep retail business knowledge and cross-functional capabilities to deliver superior design and implementation of strategy, technology and process solutions. The firm’s combination of industry focus, knowledge-based approach and rapid, end-to-end solution deployment helps clients to achieve their business potential.