Physical stores ‘still preferred purchase method’

Written by Chris Lemmon

02/08/2017

The majority of sales for multi-channel retailers in the UK still come from in-store transactions, according to new research from Qmatic UK.

The report highlighted the continued importance of the bricks and mortar store, and how retailers must master a channel agnostic approach to meet the shifting expectations of today’s consumer.

The research, which surveyed 100 retailers with between 501 and 3,000 employees, found that for over half (58 per cent), the majority of sales come from purchases made in-store. On the other hand, fewer than a quarter (24 per cent) of respondents make the majority of their sales online.

Four in 10 retailers also noted that their physical stores will be just as important, if not more important in 2030, compared to 23 per cent who believe that their physical stores will be obsolete by 2030.

Online shopping is showing most growth so far in 2017 for nearly three quarters (74 per cent) of respondents’ organisations. This is supported by IMRG and Capgemini who revealed that UK online retail sales reached £133 billion in 2016.

Vanessa Walmsley, managing director at Qmatic, said: “The research clearly highlights the important role of the in-store environment, now and in the future. While online is snowballing, this channel will by no means replace physical stores. Instead, a blend of in-store, online and mobile will continue to shape retail’s future.

“However, with consumers now conditioned to heightened levels of convenience, retailers now need to adopt a channel agonistic, omnichannel approach to ensure the customer experience remains consistent across all channels, with the service received in-store matching that of online, and vice-versa.”