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Consumers Like Technology When It Improves the Shopping Experience

Our Most Compelling Data:

93%

of retailers told us they use automation in at least one part of their business to save time.

Retail leaders noted

Key areas where technology can make the most improvement over the next 12 months, led by marketing (71%), inventory management (70%) and reporting (67%).

But consumers weren’t on board with chatbots, where 56% say they like using them either “a little” or “not at all”.

Retailers are using more technology than you think – and it’s paying off

Technology adoption will be one of the biggest talking points for the retail industry over the next year, as leaders appear bullish on trying new solutions to free up their staff and boost efficiency.

In fact, more than a third of retail leaders we surveyed indicated they were already using different types of advanced technology integrations (from inventory management software to automated email campaigns to even generative AI to write copy) to save time and improve business processes.

A majority of the consumers we talked to also indicated they liked and would engage with six of the seven sales- and payment-related technologies we asked about, ranging from mobile apps to automated appointment reminders and automated payments.

Where will these technologies and automations provide ROI the earliest? We’d put our money on marketing and inventory management, which retailers cited most as saving them time (45% and 40%, respectively). Retailers also cited marketing and inventory management as the most impactful areas for automation over the next year (71% and 70%, respectively).

Key takeaway:

Savvy retail leaders know the industry is going all-in on technology, including AI and automation. In fact, 77% of survey takers told us they wanted to invest in all 11 overarching business technology areas we asked about – including building better products, better communication with staff and consumers, and real-time inventory tracking – to improve overall company performance.

Doing all those things would be an overwhelming mission that’s not realistic in the next year. However, identifying a few pain points that could be improved in the short-term by technology (like creating auto-generated, SEO-optimised product descriptions) and testing and deploying solutions over the next year could save your business money and boost satisfaction for both your customers and staff.

Chicago’s BLACKLION Home Decor knows how to do a lot with a little to serve its community’s refined tastes. The operation, which started with a location in Charlotte, North Carolina, boasts a complex assortment of more than 10,000 SKUs with only a few employees to manage it all. Founder Elisabeth Emory needed an affordable and effective way to track and manage inventory, the lifeblood of the business, without having to hire more employees. Emory also relies heavily on her Square analytics to make smarter business decisions and avoid under or overstocking.

The reason that I chose Square was specifically for the inventory management aspect of it. I wanted to be able to bring the same scale of brands and product offerings in different categories as the store in Charlotte, but we would have to have multiple full-time people managing this many SKUs if we were doing it manually.”

Elisabeth Emory, Founder of BLACKLION Home Decor, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Consumers haven’t bought in on chatbots (yet)

It’s clear consumers want retailers to invest in technology to improve shopping experiences, except for one specific case: chatbots.

Only 36% of consumers we asked said they liked using retailer chatbots, and just 8% of that same group said chatbots influenced their purchases.

While consumers appear to be iffy about chatbots, retailers seem to be finding value in the short term at least. Thirty-seven percent of the retailers we surveyed said they were using chatbots to decrease their employees’ hands-on time with customers, and 58% of that group said chatbots were providing positive economic ROI.

There are two ways to think about these answers. First, chatbots have real value. But even if you’ve used the best chatbot on the market, it’s clear that the quality needs to improve. Indications are that it will, as AI gets better at understanding the nuances of human communication and needs. Second, chatbots are easy punching bags for customers, as they’re often being engaged in challenging scenarios – a shipping error on a birthday gift, an out-of-stock item, etc. – in which a staff member could better explain, empathise and have the authority to take out-of-the-box actions.

Key takeaway:

No matter how much you automate, nothing beats the impact knowledgeable staff has on finalising a sale and optimising the shopping experience for customers. As chatbots improve, they’ll likely become must-haves for large swaths of the retail industry, even for select local businesses. But even then, retailers will still need to prioritise technology that frees up their staff to handle their highest-priority customer interactions.