Dive Brief:
- Consumers still value in-store experiences even as AI-powered improvements elevate online shopping experiences, according to data released last week from a survey of 23,000 consumers in 30 countries by EY.
- More than two-thirds of customers want expert advice when purchasing high-value items, while one-third want the personal in-store service online shopping can’t match. Another 3 in 5 consumers want to see and touch items before buying them.
- AI-powered customer service is falling short, the study found. Half of consumers were frustrated that chatbots were ineffective in resolving queries, while 3 in 10 cited poor customer service or difficulty connecting with agents as significant issues with their digital shopping experience.
Dive Insight:
Retailers are starting to bring the best parts of the brick-and-mortar experience to their e-commerce sites and apps.
While the entire physical experience is impossible to replicate digitally, companies can approximate some of the most important aspects with modern technology, according to Nichole Jones, partner and principal for retail strategy at EY-Parthenon.
“Companies are trying to take that static, less interactive online or e-commerce experience and embed more video, more music and more personality into the website,” Jones told sister publication CX Dive.
Helpful offerings include 360-degree views of products like furniture and videos that showcase how apparel items flow and hang on a model, according to Jones. These enhance the online experience with elements previously exclusive to in-store shopping.
Retailers looking for inspiration can start by thinking about what it’s like to walk through one of their stores, then coming up with ways to bring the most interesting aspects of that experience online.
While chatbots are currently falling short in some ways, they have the potential to bring the helpfulness of in-store associates online. Amazon is already experimenting with this possibility through its Rufus digital shopping assistant.
"Imagine you get to the place where I don't need to go into a store and give an associate all of my dimensions or all of the specificities of my needs to make sure that I'm buying the right product,” Jones said.
However, an online personal shopping program would benefit from having the ability to connect with live assistance as well, according to Jones. The ability to engage with a human will be just as important to shopping experiences as it is to customer service.
