The increase in the number of digital retail channels is altering the way shoppers go about their shopping. A research has found that the time taken to complete a fashion purchase has gone up by 7 times if one compares how much time was taken a decade ago.
According to a study by retail analysts Conlumino for Webloyalty: “The total length of time taken from browsing to collection of a fashion item has increased from 0.5 days in 2002 to 3.4 days in 2012.”
Guy Chiswick, managing director of Webloyalty UK said, “Engaging with shoppers throughout the whole purchase process is vital.”
For retailers, there might be an opportunity to tailor the whole buying experience, but they also can’t ignore the fact that this calls for getting in touch with consumers between each phase of their buying cycle.
According to the same research, since shoppers now are comfortable with multiple channels this means they take more time to arrive at a decision. Since they shuffle between channels more often now, consumers end up taking more time between browsing, researching and purchasing. So even though a purchase is happening, the time spent has gone up.
“The birth of several new channels being used by shoppers to make fashion purchases has added both to the cost and complexity of managing the path to purchase for retailers,” Conlumino’s Neil Saunders said.
