Speed and convenience are UK consumers’ top motivations for choosing to shop in-store, directly impacting bricks and mortar conversions, a new report has found.

The research, conducted by commerce solutions provider PCMS and polled 2,000 UK consumers, shows that while 70 per cent of shoppers still use the store to physically interact with products to validate their purchasing decision, shoppers’ motivations for using the bricks and mortar channel are centred around speed and convenience.

More than half (58 per cent) of shoppers cited immediacy as their main reason for using the store to make purchases, meaning they do not have to wait for the product to be delivered, with 39 per cent saying the store is more convenient than online and almost a third (30 per cent) perceiving the speed of service to be quicker in-store compared to online.

A total of 84 per cent of shoppers agreed that quick and helpful customer service would make them most likely to shop with a retailer again, followed by quick check out and payment options (44 per cent). 43 per cent of shoppers said that they will become less tolerant of slow checkout times over the next five years.

A further 44 per cent would be more likely to choose a retailer that offers a quick and convenient service over retailers they had been loyal to in the past, but could not offer the same speed of service.

Steve Powell, director of sales at PCMS, commented: “Speed and convenience are central to creating positive in-store customer experiences and conversions, however, our recent research suggests that half of shoppers find the speed and quality of the customer service they experience variable.

“In-store, where immediacy and support are the key customer benchmarks, retailers’ roadmaps need to prioritise areas like availability – for example, by empowering front-line staff with point of sale technology, which enables effective problem-solving interactions through access to operational and customer data.”

Share Story: