Consumers Say Stores Don’t Know Their Preferences. And They’re OK With That.

August 4, 2016

This article is included in these additional categories:

Customer Service & Experience | Data-driven | Promotions, Coupons & Co-op | Retail & E-Commerce | UK | Youth & Gen X

PeriscopeMcKinsey-Consumer-Attitudes-Retailer-Data-Efforts-Aug2016About 2 in 3 consumers surveyed in the US and UK say they see no evidence of stores knowing their preferences, a study has revealed. The report – from Periscope, by McKinsey [download page] – indicates that consumers are much more likely to feel that online stores know their preferences. But there doesn’t seem to be much appeal in connecting online and offline data to optimize the shopping experience.

Asked to choose between 3 attitudes in this area, about 6 in 10 respondents chose the option noting that they would prefer that retailers not connect their online and in-store shopping information to optimize their shopping experience.

It was not the only surprising result from the survey. Despite all the buzz about e-commerce, consumers still prefer to shop in-store, with more than 3 in 4 respondents in both the US and the UK saying that this is the case. As for those digitally-obsessed Millennials? Fully 81% of 18-29-year-olds surveyed say they like to shop in-store, beating out other methods including home delivery via shopping from a computer (64%) and home delivery via website/app on mobile device (23%). This isn’t the first piece of research to show that young people enjoy browsing and shopping in-store, though.

Moreover, respondents appear twice as apt to snap up a promotion in-store as to go with a promotion online. And as for online recommendations, close to twice as many consumers in the US and UK are often put off by them as enjoy it when they see something they weren’t expecting. Overall, though a majority seem to be fine with recommendations, so long as they’re relevant…

Relevance requires data, though, and there seems to be a trust issue in play. Retailers will need to work hard on this front, as more Americans distrust than trust them to protect their personal data.

About the Data: The Periscope by McKinsey results are based on a June 2016 survey of 1,674 adults in the US and UK.

45th Parallel Design Ad

Explore More Charts.

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This