According to a new global report by Capgemini, consumers consider social media (from awareness, through to post-sale activity) a less important part of their customer journey compared to two years ago, suggesting that the social media hype in the consumer goods and retail sector has not materialized. The second edition of the global report, which surveyed over 18,000 digital shoppers from 18 countries to provide insight into the changing nature of shoppers’ online retail habits, shows that smartphone shopping has grown in importance over the same period. The report highlights that 75% of consumers say that the internet is important or very important to shopping research, and the globally preferred channel to inform retail decisions (over all other channels, including stores),
According to the report, compared to 2012, less importance is being placed on following retailers on social media (such as Twitter and Facebook), finding out about new products through blogs, and participating in online retail customer communities. The responses of global shoppers demonstrate that social media is less important to the shopper journey compared with conventional retail store experiences, web, smartphone, email or the use of technologies in-store.
Kees Jacobs, Capgemini Global Digital Proposition Lead, comments: "… there is definitely a question mark over where and how ‘social’ fits into the shopper journey… social media is most relevant in the ‘awareness’ and ‘choice’ phases of shopping journeys… but much less in ‘transaction, delivery and post-sales’… “
The survey shows that for point-of-sale the physical store is still the favored destination for global shoppers, with the Internet trailing slightly. For retail transactions:
High growth markets all show a significantly stronger preference for digital technologies than mature markets, says the report. Brazil, Mexico, India and China all place a much greater importance on the smartphone, social media and in-store technology when it comes to searching for product information, doing price-comparisons and purchasing products than all of the mature markets polled.
High-growth markets are also significantly more interested in receiving personalized offers and recommendations, with India (46%), Mexico (40%) and Brazil (38%) rating them as ‘extremely important’, in stark contrast to the equivalent statistics for the UK (13%), France (15%) and Germany (24%).
Importance of Select Channels/locations When Making Purchase (% of Respondents; Digital Shoppers Worldwide; Users in Previous Three Months) | |||
Experience | Important | Neutral | Not Important |
Traditional store | 72% | 18% | 9% |
Internet site | 67 | 19 | 14 |
In-store technology (e.g. Kiosks) | 53 | 23 | 24 |
Email (newsletters, offers) | 48 | 23 | 29 |
Smartphones (mobile websites & apps | 42 | 20 | 39 |
Social media | 36 | 19 | 44 |
Phone (call center) | 31 | 20 | 39 |
Source: Capgemni/ORC I’ntl, September 2014 |
Other key findings from the report include:
Capgemini’s research highlighted seven categories of shoppers across the mature and high-growth markets, who use digital channels in different ways during their shopping journey:
Mature Markets (Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States)
High-growth Markets (Brazil, China, India, Mexico and Russia)
Brian Girouard, Vice President, Capgemini Consumer Products, concludes: “… most companies are already on their ‘digital journey’ in some shape or form… many are uncertain whether… addressing the changing needs of their consumers… the right priorities… the right initiatives…”
For additional information about the Capgemini study, please visit here.