Research by credit card company Barclaycard has found that high street shoppers in the UK are increasingly turning to online shopping. Although 50% still preferred 'brick-and-mortar' shops - mostly for trying items on (66%) - 37% admitted that they shop online more often, finding it faster, more flexible and more customer-friendly.
Of shoppers surveyed, 63% admitted to walking away from a purchase, due to the shop being too crowded (45%), long checkout-queues (42%), or lengthy waiting times for fitting rooms (29%).
Those surveyed recommended touch-screens to check items in stock, ‘digital changing rooms’ and 'scan and pay' apps as digital technologies that would help to create a better in-store shopping experience.
Regarding online purchases, 42% of shoppers cited a shop's 'click and collect' service as the deciding factor in its favour.
"By using technology, such as payment apps to reduce queues and virtual reality tools that allow shoppers to visualise themselves wearing items of clothing, retailers can lay the foundations to survive and thrive during the busy upcoming festive period and well into the future," said Sharon Manikon, director of customer solutions at Barclaycard.
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Martha Sparrius. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
