THE FUTURE OF

eRETAIL
Foreword by Derek Eccleston
 THE FUTURE OF
COMMERCE: WHY
EXPERIENCE MATTERS
MORE NOW MORE
THAN EVER
Twelve months ago, we celebrated fifteen
years of the eDigitalResearch (edr) eRetail
Benchmark. Since 1999, weve been measuring,
tracking and benchmarking the changes and
developments in the online retailing world.
Weve documented the impact of technology
such as predictive search text has had on
the digital customer experience, as well as
the phenomenal change bought about by the
explosion in mobile devices.
The eRetail Benchmark was born out of a
desire and need to understand new, emerging
digital consumers. Back then, there was little
or no regard for the overall experience the
DEREK ECCLESTON way things worked online was largely down to
the creation of logical, technical based brains
CHIEF DEVELOPMENT with even website copy left down to technical
OFFICER at minds.
eDigitalResearch (edr)
Thats when we pioneered the notion that a
consumers website experience was a journey
with a series of distinct phases from home
page right the way through to delivery and
since that time weve continually pioneered
2
digital Voice of the Customer solutions.
Our fifteen years of the Digital Customer
Experience report sought to show just a small
part of the journey that both digital consumers
and the digital retail industry has been on over
the past fifteen years. Taking results and best
practice guides from across the years, we
shared just how much the digital customer
experience has changed and where it might
be going thanks to the benchmarks latest
results.
With almost two decades worth of digital
experience data, we know what good looks like.
Weve watched as technology has continuously
changed the expectations of shoppers and
increasingly influenced offline experiences as
well. However, weve also seen how digital
experiences are increasingly becoming on
par with one another the gap amongst the
benchmarks leaders is growing smaller with
each round of results. It means that now, the
overall customer experience matters more
than ever.
Now, one year on, we're sharing
with you the very latest digital
eRetail Benchmark results and
answering the question on
everyone's lips - what does the
future hold for the digital retail
experience?
4
Introduction and
Methodology

6
Executive Summary

7
How The Digital
Experience Changed In
2015: Results

17
What Does The Future
Hold?

3
 Back in 2000, the world was gripped by the Throughout the digital revolution,
dotcom crash - sites that had launched just eDigitalResearch (edr) have completed over 16
a couple of years earlier where falling by the years worth of assessment surveys measuring
wayside. Most bystanders would have declared and tracking the ever-changing digital
that the digital age was over having never customer experience.
really started.

But ecommerce proved its own. Digital sales

now equate to as much as a third of total
revenue for many of our leading high street
retailers.
During that time, eDigitalResearch have been
measuring and tracking the evolving digital
market with the invaluable eRetail Benchmark
report. Taking some of the UKs biggest
eDigitalResearch have been
measuring and tracking the
evolving digital market
The following report contains the very latest
eRetail Benchmark results from across the
crucial Christmas trading period (November

INTRODUCTION online retailers over the years, the eRetail

Benchmark has provided and continues
to provide a definitive view of the digital
to January), as well as exploring what key
trends and technologies could influence digital
customer experiences in the coming months

& METHOGOLOGY customer experience across a growing, and

often complex, customer journey.
and years.

4
In order to truly understand how retailers were
performing online, eDigitalResearch utilised
their unique eMysteryShopper tool. Taking a
panel of profiled shoppers, real users were
asked to complete a purchase in their own
home on selected sites and feedback their
findings on how easy the site was to use, if
they encountered any problems and what
improvements they feel could be made.
Brands included within the benchmark
alternate regularly so that we have a
comprehensive view from a range of the UKs
top retailers. The eRetail Benchmark includes
a variety of different brands from fashion,
electronics, homewares and grocery sectors.
Brands included in the report must offer both
a web and mobile experience and the ability
to complete a purchase via each touch point.
The digital customer journey is formed by a
number of decisions which digital shoppers
need to make in order to navigate through
a retailers website, from landing on the
homepage to clicking the buy button.
Retailers need to ensure they are performing
well at every stage of the complex customer
journey.
Digital shoppers were asked to review every
stage of the customer journey for web and
mobile channels allowing us to assess not only
the digital customer experience as a whole, but
also measure a brands website and mobile site
experience independently from one another.
This enables us to provide a definitive view of
how the UKs top retailers are performing and
where the digital customer experience can be
improved.
Many retailers are
eliminating their app
platformthankstoimproved
mobile optimisation
We have removed apps from our methodology
to refine the focus to mobile and desktop
since many retailers are eliminating their
app platform thanks to improved mobile
optimisation - according to our own research,
just 59% of Britains top retailers have an app.
At each stage of the purchase journey,
surveyors provide a detailed assessment
on how they found their experience from
how well the sites keyword search worked
to how easy it is to find the brands delivery
information. Surveyors provide ratings on
key areas of the customer journey alongside
verbatim comments to provide an in-depth
view of their experience.
Fieldwork took place between 23rd November
2015 5th January 2016, covering the crucial
busy Christmas period and popular sales event
Black Friday.
5
 What weve learnt so far about the digital customer experience:

1
Delivery is increasingly becoming a star moment in the digital customer journey and one key area
where brands can really stand out and differentiate themselves

2
Functionality is a fundamental part of any digital customer journey excellent search and
navigational features are particularly key. However, those sites that seek to both function and
inspire create a lasting impression with customers

3
Taking inspiration from elsewhere online such as social media or developing search technology
and integrating emerging trends and features into sites helps create a digital customer experience
that meets expectations

EXECUTIVE 4
Digital customer experiences are increasingly becoming on a par with one another it means

SUMMARY that the entire end-to-end online journey all the way through to logistics and after sales care are
becoming more important than ever before

6
 Retailer Digital Score
Web Mobile
ASOS 89.8% 92% 87%

John Lewis 88.9% 89% 89%

Notonthehighstreet.com 88.5% 88% 89%

How the digital Amazon

House of Fraser
88.4%

86.6%
89%

87%
88%

86%

retail experience New Look

Argos
86.3%

86.4%
86%

86%
86%

87%

changed in 2015 Ocado

Wallis
86.4%

86.2%
87%

88%
86%

85%

Across the entire end-to-end customer journey, weve seen an Currys 86.5% 87% 86%
increase in customer satisfaction as brands continue to develop
their digital customer experience. H&M 85.8% 86% 85%

Evans 86.0% 87% 85%

From search results to product pages, the digital customer
experience is changing and improving - in particular, digital Marks and Spencer 85.5% 87% 84%
customer satisfaction levels are increasing year-on-year. Overall,
search and navigation remain the two top performing areas of Tesco 85.4% 88% 82%
the digital customer journey thanks to clear functionality and
Waitrose 84.7% 87% 83%
usability.
Sainsburys 83.4% 87% 80%
However, with more customers shopping via their smartphone
than ever before mobile sales are predicted to overtake Etsy 82.0% 85% 79%
desktop purchases as early as this year, a handful of leading ASDA 81.6% 85% 78%
retailers within the benchmark are now recording higher mobile
experience satisfaction than their well-established website Poundland 76.1% 78% 75%
counterpart, indicating that mobile shopping functionality has
85.5% 86.7% 84.3%
improved wave-on-wave as emphasis continues on mobile first.

7
 Overall
ASOS achieved the highest digital score offering a seamless customer experience
across all channels and join the likes of John Lewis and Notonthehighstreet.com
as leaders of the eRetail Benchmark. Their desktop site topped the navigation
league table thanks to their highly intuitive navigational filters, accessible from
the search results pages allowing customers to use logical filter options to easily
navigate through pages to find what they need. With consumers browsing and
making purchases on mobile more than ever retailers mobile experiences have
vastly improved in some cases mobile sites are out-performing desktop sites
such as Notonthehighstreet.com, New Look and Argos.

Excellent
>90%
93.7%
92.3% The information
90.4%
87.9% 89.7% about each product
Good The keyword
80-89.9% 87.5% is detailed and well
search option is
79.5% organised. There
really visible on the
78.7% are plenty of images
75.1% homepage. I was
Average A streamlined of each item. The
able to find lots of
70-79.9% experience. Easy view catwalk feature
79.5% 70.2% exciting products
to add items or is especially good
and suggestions
remove. Delivery which lets you
65.7% instantly. The results
Poor was free. Security watch a video of
50-69.9% were accurate and
was noted next to the item. It is a
varied.
payment methods. bit disappointing
-
No delivery time- that there are no
Very Poor Notonthehighstreet.
<50% scale at this stage. customer reviews.
com
- John Lewis - ASOS
(Desktop Shopper)
First Keyword Product Shopping (Desktop Shopper) (Desktop Shopper)
Navigation Purchase
Impressions Search Pages Basket

8
 Retailer Digital Web Mobile
New Look 87.9% 87% 88%

ASOS 87.7% 89% 86%

House of Fraser 86.9% 89% 85%

H O M E PAG E Tesco

H&M
86.9%

86.4%
90%

85%
84%

88%

Argos 86.2% 86% 86%

With first impressions being vital to the digital
experience, retailers need to ensure their Wallis 86.0% 88% 84%
homepage encourages customers to browse,
offering clear navigational links and strong Not on the high street 85.5% 84% 87%
branding. Homepages which are attention
John Lewis 85.4% 87% 84%
grabbing yet simplistic are more likely to
trigger positive emotions making users more Amazon 85.2% 85% 86%
likely to continue browsing.
Marks and Spencer 84.6% 85% 84%
New Look came first for first impressions
Ocado 84.0% 82% 86%
scoring highly for fast loading pages and
simple navigation. Shoppers particularly like Currys 84.0% 87% 81%
their clear offers and promotions alongside
their seasonal trends feature. Navigation links Evans 83.6% 87% 80%
from the homepage are clear and easy to find. Sainsburys 81.8% 85% 78%
Their mobile site scored highly thanks to their
strong brand identity which is in line with their Waitrose 80.9% 85% 77%
desktop site, clear navigational links and great
Poundland 80.3% 83% 78%
functionality.
Etsy 79.8% 79% 80%
I found the home page well presented. It ASDA 79.5% 85% 74%
was clear to see what the site offered.
84.3% 85.7% 83.0%
- New Look (Desktop Shopper)

9
 Retailer Digital Web Mobile
Notonthehighstreet.com 93.7% 93% 94%

ASOS 93.6% 96% 91%

S E A R C H Amazon 93.2% 93% 93%

H&M 92.3% 91% 93%

Notonthehighstreet.com achieved the highest Ocado 92.3% 93% 92%
keyword search score after inclusion in the
benchmark for the first time. Their mobile site John Lewis 92.2% 91% 93%
performed particularly well thanks to ease of
New Look 91.5% 91% 92%
use and relevant and accurate predictive text
suggestions. Currys 90.2% 92% 89%

Searching by specific criteria reflecting what Tesco 89.8% 91% 88%

may be important to customers such as can
Argos 89.8% 90% 89%
be personalised and eco-friendly helps them
narrow their search quickly and efficiently. Marks and Spencer 88.7% 91% 87%
Speed and accuracy helped ASOS and Amazon
score highly for search, both offering accurate House of Fraser 88.5% 87% 90%
predictive text keyword search.
Evans 88.4% 89% 88%

In recent years search performance has Etsy 88.2% 92% 85%

improved vastly, in particular grocers have
struggled in the past due to their hugely ASDA 87.3% 89% 85%
diverse product offering.
Sainsburys 87.1% 91% 84%

Waitrose 86.9% 90% 84%

I was pleased that the search field tried to pre-
determine what word I was going to type into this Wallis 85.1% 84% 87%
box when I had typed in the first few letters.
Poundland 78.7% 77% 80%
-Notonthehighstreet.com (Mobile
89.3% 90.1% 88.6%
Shopper)

10
 Retailer Digital Web Mobile
ASOS 92.3% 95% 90%

H&M 91.5% 90% 93%

New Look 91.5% 92% 92%

Wallis 91.4% 92% 91%

NAVIGATION
John Lewis 90.6% 91% 91%

Currys 90.5% 93% 89%

Amazon 90.3% 91% 90%

ASOS score well thanks to their great
consistency across both mobile and desktop. House of Fraser 90.3% 89% 92%
Customers appreciated the comprehensive
Notonthehighstreet.com 90.0% 91% 90%
categories that helped them navigate
through such a vast amount of products. Argos 90.0% 88% 92%

When it comes to navigation, users expect Marks and Spencer 89.9% 91% 89%
to see the same navigational tools and
Evans 89.7% 92% 87%
features across all digital touch points. H&M
scored highly for their navigation on their Waitrose 88.4% 89% 88%
mobile site thanks to clarity and ease of use.
Tesco 87.8% 90% 85%
Brands that didnt perform well didnt offer
Ocado 87.6% 92% 84%
the ability to filter products or had poor
filtering functionality particularly on mobile. Sainsburys 85.5% 90% 81%

Etsy 83.4% 89% 78%

The options to refine the search results
ASDA 82.5% 86% 79%
are exceptionally easy & detailed and the
fact that they change dynamically as you Poundland 75.1% 78% 73%
select different options is really helpful.
88.3% 89.8% 86.9%
-ASOS (Desktop Shopper)

11
 Retailer Digital Web Mobile
John Lewis 89.7% 89% 91%

PRODUCT
Notonthehighstreet.com 89.0% 91% 87%

ASOS 88.6% 93% 84%

PAGES Amazon

Currys
88.1%

87.9%
89%

87%
87%

88%

Wallis 87.6% 88% 87%

Product pages are an important step within
the customer journey - the decision whether Argos 87.0% 87% 87%
to make a purchase is often influenced by the
information provided on the product page. House of Fraser 86.7% 87% 87%
Users now expect a wide range of information
Evans 86.1% 87% 85%
as a bare minimum, brands who go above and
beyond this minimum score well by including H&M 84.9% 87% 82%
features such as video, alternate images and
reviews. Overall, reviews are well received Ocado 84.4% 88% 81%
by shoppers, many suggesting verified reviews
Marks and Spencer 84.3% 89% 79%
would encourage them to make a purchase.
Etsy 84.1% 86% 82%
John Lewis ensure product information is clear
and detailed, with excellent quality of photos Waitrose 83.4% 84% 83%
and zoom functionality well received on
New Look 81.3% 84% 79%
mobile. Notonthehightreet.com perform well
on desktop thanks to their detailed product Sainsburys 78.4% 85% 72%
pages and clear pricing.
ASDA 77.1% 83% 71%

I really liked how easy it was to view Tesco 77.0% 83% 71%
the products, a simple swipe to see other Poundland 65.7% 67% 64%
images and a double click to zoom.
83.7% 86.0% 81.5%
-John Lewis (Mobile Shopper)

12
 Retailer Digital Web Mobile
John Lewis 90.4% 92% 89%

Notonthehighstreet.com 89.8% 90% 89%

ASOS 89.5% 93% 86%

Amazon 87.4% 89% 86%

Argos 86.9% 86% 88%

House of Fraser 86.8% 87% 87%

SHOPPING New Look 86.2% 87% 86%

BASKET
Evans 86.1% 88% 85%

Marks and Spencer 86.0% 88% 84%

Currys 85.9% 87% 85%

John Lewis top the shopping basket league table
thanks to their excellent desktop and mobile Wallis 85.5% 88% 83%
scores. Customers are able to add items to
Ocado 84.6% 82% 87%
their shopping basket in a few simple clicks, a
feature which is appreciated on smaller screens. Tesco 83.4% 89% 78%

Retailers who offer a clear and concise shopping Etsy 83.4% 87% 80%
basket with easy to edit features score highly
H&M 82.9% 85% 81%
within the benchmark, as do those who give a
clear indication of delivery costs and shipping Sainsburys 82.3% 87% 78%
times before proceeding to checkout.
ASDA 80.0% 86% 74%

Poundland 79.8% 87% 73%

The overall experience of the shopping basket
on this site was excellent, as it is very easy to add Waitrose 79.5% 83% 76%
items and the contents can easily be changed.
85.1% 87.3% 82.8%
-John Lewis (Desktop Shopper)

13
 Retailer Digital Web Mobile

PURCHASE ASOS

Tesco
87.5%

86.8%
86%

87%
89%

87%

A clear, secure checkout area is perhaps the Amazon 86.5% 85% 88%
most important part of the online customer Ocado 85.6% 85% 86%
journey. Eliminating poor functionality could
help lower basket abandonment rates. ASOS Waitrose 84.8% 89% 80%
came first within the league table with
Notonthehighstreet.com 83.9% 80% 88%
impressive scores on their mobile site thanks to
their pain free registration process with social John Lewis 83.7% 82% 85%
media registration options. ASOSs checkout
process is easy to alter e.g. add/remove items Sainsburys 81.5% 86% 78%
and increase quantities with clear delivery
Wallis 80.9% 86% 76%
costs and help buttons easily identifiable.
New Look 80.7% 78% 83%
Tesco came a close second thanks to their
extensive range of delivery options and House of Fraser 80.2% 82% 78%
promotion reminders at checkout. Surveyors
Evans 79.5% 78% 81%
liked the grocers quick and secure checkout.
Argos 78.8% 79% 79%
Brands who offer a simple and straightforward
purchase process which is secure and clear Marks and Spencer 78.4% 78% 79%
score highly within the benchmark as do those
H&M 78.1% 81% 75%
who offer the ability to amend orders, seek
assistance and register quickly. Currys 77.9% 78% 78%

ASDA 77.7% 81% 75%

Placing an order was simple and straight
Poundland 73.2% 74% 72%
forward. I was confident that the
site was secure, and I received Etsy 70.2% 75% 65%
immediate confirmation of my order.
80.8% 81.6% 80.1%
-ASOS (Mobile Shopper)

14
 Retailer Score
Etsy 95.22%

Wallis 94.50%

John Lewis 92.50%

ASOS 90.50%

New Look 90.00%

House of Fraser 88.00%

Waitrose 87.50%

Notonthehighstreet.com 87.50%

Poundland 87.50%

Marks and Spencer 87.00%

DELIVERY Sainsburys 86.50%

Currys 86.50%
Consumers increasingly expect a fast and
I was able to track my delivery Evans 85.00%
efficient delivery service. Brands who deliver
which was extremely helpful.
parcels on time and as expected unsurprisingly H&M 84.50%
Everything met my expectations.
top the delivery league table. Etsy, Wallis
and John Lewis top the delivery league -Etsy Amazon 84.00%
table thanks to great communication and
Tesco 82.50%
goods received within the stated timeframe.
I was very surprised by the speed of delivery
Ocado 82.50%
All orders lived up to their delivery promise as it was ordered on Black Friday and I
during the fieldwork period, which included thought there might be a delay. It actually Argos 81.50%
the Black Friday sales event and during the was only 1 working day later! Very impressed!
ASDA 76.50%
busy Christmas period. -John Lewis

15
 Customer service is a key area of the customer
journey where retailers can differentiate Retailer Telephone Email Average
themselves from their competitors. If brands John Lewis 91.6% 82.7% 87.1%
fail to deliver a great customer service
experience they risk diminishing their entire Notonthehighstreet.com 89.5% 85.3% 87.4%
customer experience.
Tesco 87.8% 82.8% 85.3%

From logistical queries to returns information, Ocado 86.4% 80.7% 83.6%

customers want assistance that is both helpful
and convenient, alongside this users feel that Sainsburys 86.1% 80.8% 83.4%
a speedy resolution is a very important factor.
Marks and Spencer 85.3% 83.4% 84.3%
We measured the effectiveness of two of
the most popular customer service channels, New Look 85.0% 78.9% 82.0%
according to our Customer Service Benchmark
telephone and email. Currys 84.9% 79.2% 82.0%

H&M 84.2% 79.7% 81.9%

Notonthehighstreet top the overall customer
service league table thanks to their Poundland 84.1% 60.1% 72.1%
consistency across both channels. John Lewis
Waitrose 83.8% 82.6% 83.2%
top the telephone league table thanks to their
excellent telephone customer service, whilst Wallis 82.9% 82.3% 82.6%
ASOS score highest for their email customer
service. House of Fraser 82.4% 77.3% 79.9%

Evans 81.6% 76.5% 79.1%

I liked the local call rate number. Quick
to respond and informative options. Argos 76.1% 72.7% 74.4%
-John Lewis ASDA 73.4% 65.0% 69.2%

Customer
Amazon 73.3% 69.7% 71.5%
Very prompt reply which answered my enquiry.
Etsy 46.0% 65.6% 55.8%
I was very pleased with this quick service as it

Service
was answered within 10 minutes of sending it. ASOS 1.3% 87.6% 44.4%
-ASOS

16

What does the future
hold for the digital retail
experience?
The overall customer
experience is now king from
marketing to operations,
listening to customers
and effectively managing
experiences is what will
keep brands ahead of the
competition. The future
belongs to those brands who
continually create exceptional
experiences.
As consumers, over the past
few years weve become
increasingly more demanding.
Thanks to the continued role
of mobile devices and the
growing Internet of Things
(IoT) trend, we want to shop
when we want and how we
want.
Yet, our experiences have
become key to how we see
and view brands we base
perception, expectation
and even loyalty on the
experiences we have with
brands and the way they
make us feel. Customers will
seek out not just a great price
but also a great experience
so digital retailers must
do everything they can to
remain competitive. Without
a great customer experience,
traditional marketing and
advertising is virtually
ineffective.
Its why more and more
brands will be investing in
key strategies to enhance
their experiences over the
coming twelve months and
put their brand ahead of the
competition.
Five key trends that will
define the digital retail
experience in 2016
1
A single customer view to deliver
the right experiences to the right
customers
2
One day, flash sales events
cementing the importance of
fulfilment and logistics
3
Use of social media for retail will
increase
4
Mobile sales to overtake desktop
5
Video and interactive content used
to drive sales
17
 We all want to feel appreciated and loved
its why so many retailers are investing
in personalisation strategies in order to
tempt us to part with our hard-earned cash.
But too many personalisation strategies in the
past have focused heavily on basic segmentation
and blanket email campaigns. Product advice
or suggested buys are based mainly on what
other shoppers viewed or purchased with no
real regard for preferences or intent. It can
be difficult to deliver an emotional connection
online due to a lack of human interaction.
A single In 2016, well see brands starting to
deliver the right experiences to
to take customer comments and supporting
information from a range of sources and
accurately determine whats being said and how
strongly a person may feel about that subject.
Real-time, automated and intelligent analysis
of customer comments is key in really helping
businesses to deliver for their customers in 2016.
Customer experience specialists
at eDigitalResearch (edr) deemed
the next twelve months to be the
year of emotion
In fact, the technology is now so advanced
that these tools can even decipher who in the

customer view the right people at the right time.

Big data and what it delivers is nothing new.

business is ideally placed to effectively manage
particular experiences and send feedback
directly to that person it means team members

to deliver For years, brands have been collecting streams

and streams of data on individual customers
and using it to inform business strategies or
can get underway with delivering the right
experiences for customers in the right way.

the right marketing campaigns. But now, the tools

and technology are out there to really make
a difference to customer experiences.
Emotion is the biggest driver behind loyalty
and repeat purchases. It means increasingly,
brands need to create an emotional

experiences to At the beginning of 2016, the customer

experience specialists at eDigitalResearch
connection with their customers and
treat them as if its just the two of them.

the right people (edr) deemed the next twelve months to be

the year of emotion - properly getting to grips
with customers wants, needs and feelings is
Integrating real-time customer feedback with
supporting key information will be fundemental
to really personalising experiences by knowing

at the right time now fundamental to understanding customers.

The tools and technology are now out there

all that you can about individual customers
and youll know when to effectively step in
and improve.

18
 Perhaps one of the best ways to now
differentiate one retailer from another
in 2016 is based on delivery strategies.
Increasingly within the eRetail Benchmark
over the past couple of years, weve seen
the top digital customer experiences are now
becoming on a par with one another. In means
that offering a fantastic end-to-end digital
experience will be wasted if its not supported
by great delivery and service weve already
seen the impact a great delivery experience
can have on the overall digital experience.
turning their well-oiled delivery process into a
marketing proposition has paid off for Amazon.
However, with consumer expectations
rising, the need for same-day delivery
is also on the rise. Fuelled by younger
shoppers and the quicker, more convenient
culture theyve grown up with, consumers
With consumer expectations
rising, the need for same-day

One day, flash Smart brands with logistics power

are turning delivery into a marketing
delivery is also on the rise

sales events
want orders to arrive there and then.
proposition rather than a policy.
Its why Amazon have launched Amazon
Prime Now a new delivery service that lets
Amazon are a fantastic example of how to do

cementing the
members take receipt of their parcel within
this well. While Amazons website might not
two hours from ordering - its these sorts of
scream inspiration and engagement to some,
propositions that retailers will increasing
their back-end model ensures that almost all

importance of
have to compete against in the online world.
deliveries arrive on time and as expected.
Amazon played to these strengths during the
With flash sales events moving increasingly
first ever Prime Day back in 2015, offering a

delivery and
online digital orders were up 38% during 2015s
huge range of products at discounted rates
Black Friday compared to the year before
for one day only and according to analysts,
2016 will become the year that same-day click
Amazon shifted 398 items every second.

logistics
and collect may eventually become the norm
Amazon now have an estimated 10 million
driven entirely by consumer expectation.
Prime members, spending, on average,
around 850 more than regular Amazon users

19
 For years, brands have been trying to crack the
social media landscape and turn the high levels
of engagement on sites such as Facebook,
Twitter and increasingly Instagram into tangible
sales. But for all their hard work, retailers have
very little to show for their social media efforts.
However, in 2016, all that could be set to change
- social is now part of the path to purchase.
In the past, social media sites have been
extremely disconnected from the ecommerce
world no-one would argue that we flick
through Facebook and Twitter for a lot
of other reasons rather than to shop.
But our mind set to social media appears to
be changing. Growing platforms that have
now well and truly laid their mark of the
social media landscape, such as Pinterest and
Instagram, are becoming renowned for their
discovery purposes users actually go there
to browse and gather inspiration rather than
just share stories and converse with friends.
Use of social Its why both Instagram and Pinterest have
introduced buy now buttons to allow
brands to turn these browsers into direct
media will purchasers. Facebook are also trying to
develop more tools for business, opening up
Facebook Messenger for brand use, as well
increase as their own click-to-buy button options.
However, if retailers use of social media
20
is going to increase, social touch points
need to be integrated fully into current
Customer Experience Management
programmes and become part of a brands
existing customer experience mind set.
Pinterest and Instagram, are
becoming renowned for their
discovery purposes
As social platforms have commented their
worth over the past few years, customer
experience technology has developed also. The
tools are now readily available to seamlessly
integrate emerging channels, including social
media, into current Voice of the Customer
programmes to provide a robust way of listening,
interpreting and delighting all customers.
Of course, theres also the increasing use of
other emerging social platforms by brands
such as Snapchat. Its important to keep track
of growing social media trends in order to not
get left behind, even if the ROI is challenging
to prove at first. Its why listening to the Voice
of the Social Customer is so essential and
with integrated yet simple solutions, youll be
able to capture what customers have to say
about you across a number of different sites.
 With the use of mobile devices on the rise and
the number of desktop computers in the home
slowly in decline (2015 saw a 10.6% fall in
desktop sales according to research firm IDC),
its no surprise that items purchased via mobiles
are lining up to overtake desktop purchases.
the right product, at the right price, available
how, when and where they want it, in their
own ultimate bespoke shopping experience.
It means that for retailers the digital customer
experience must be the very best it can be.

Lots of brands and retailers saw mobile Consumers no longer see separate experiences
traffic overtake desktop as early as 2014 a for each channel and increasingly expect
remarkable feat when you think that just
four years earlier, online purchases alone
online counted for just 8% of total sales. Brands and retailers saw
As more and more consumers turn to their
mobile traffic overtake
mobiles to browse, its only a matter of desktop
time that brands start to see more sales
generated via mobile devices. In fact, IBMs
a blended, seamless experience no matter
Black Friday tracking detected that almost
how they shop. Weve seen from the latest
half of all online sales during the one day
eRetail Benchmark results that consumers
sales event came from mobile devices 47%
expect a site thats easy to navigate and to
of purchases made online in the UK on 28th
deliver exceptional search functionality and
November 2015 were completed on a mobile,
detailed yet condensed product information.
a rise of 15 per cent the year previous.

Mobile sales John Lewis announced in 2015 that the

proportion of traffic to johnlewis.com from
With mobile sales very realistically set to
overtake desktop purchases in 2016, having

to overtake mobiles increased to 60% from the twelve

months previous, while mobile revenue grew
a significant 68%.* For one of the eRetail
a seamless and stand-out digital experience
that delivers both inspiration and functionality
really is more important than ever.

desktop Benchmarks leaders, the growth in mobile has

marked the dawn of the new Master Shopper
a new, confident shopper who knows how to find
*The John Lewis Retail Report 2015

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 The concepts of video is nothing new
2016 will mark a decade since Google
acquired YouTube for $1.65 million.
However, the popularity of video is growing.
Every minute, fifty hours of video content is
uploaded onto YouTube with an estimated 4
billion video views daily. Add onto this that
Facebook users watch an estimated 100million
hours of video a day, as consumers, were
more open to video content than ever before.
Using video content as part of the online
shopping journey is also nothing new in fact,
weve documented the growing use of video
for product content over a number of years
Video and
as part of the eRetail Benchmark report.
But in 2016, we expect the use of video in
interactive
the online shopping journey to increase. With
customers consuming more hours of video footage
than ever before, there are new opportunities
content used to
for retailers to engage with customers and
bring to life their digital shopping journey.
drive sales
Video is a fantastic way of conveying
emotion and one key reason that video
is becoming so powerful for brands.
22
However, without truly understanding whats
being said, that power can be lost. But with
intelligent analytics technology, brands can
discover the real meaning behind comments
and quickly understand key categories and
themes, as well as sentiment and strength of
feeling for each and every video clip generated.
In 2016, we expect the use of video
in the online shopping journey to
increase
2016 is all about tapping into customer emotion
to help drive loyalty and repeat purchases.
Its why over the next twelve months its
been widely predicted that leading retailers
will begin to integrate more and more video
content into their experiences from style
guides and expert help videos to turning their
attention to customer generated video review
content. For many, seeing is believing and
being able to watch fellow customers rave
about their recent purchase is likely to have
much more impact than simple reading what
they have to say.
 At eDigitalResearch (edr), we empower
business decisions through customer insight.
By combining our proprietary SaaS technology
with focused insight and thought leadership,
were able to provide a truly unique solution
from real-time closed-loop customer feedback
to Panels and Communities.
Were world leaders in Voice of the Customer
programmes and a proud part of MARU Group
About us
a technology enabled professional services
firm delivering information and insight. As part
of MARU, were pioneering technology focused
feedback and combining with deep thinking
and an emphasis on actionable outputs for
organisations.
MARU Group is the vision of renowned market
researcher Ged Parton - who is creating a
professional services firm with technology
at its DNA. MARU Group is an international
insights pioneer with technology firmly at its
heart. Were growing and as maru/edr, were
delivering on our client promise of fast and
strategic customer feedback.
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www.maruedr.com info@maruedr.com +44 (0) 1489 772920