With the arrival of summer and high temperatures in Europe, we are changing our habits, going out less in the middle of the day, looking for places with air conditioning and, inevitably, also changing our consumption habits.
The increasingly frequent heatwaves are affecting how and when we interact with businesses, only putting more pressure on them, forcing them to offer less friction and more flexibility at the checkout.
Currently, shopping experiences are very diverse: consumers see an item on social media, go to the store to physically try it, and complete the purchase online. This is one of the common scenarios, but the flows depend on many factors and are highly variable.
First of all, the type of article plays a very important role. In the latest Adyen Retail Report identifies that 72% of vacation and entertainment related purchases are already made onlineIn the technology industry it is 60%, in the textile fashion industry it is 46%. Online is less important in other sectors, for example in the food sector (22%) or in the furniture sector (27%). The weather plays an important role in this. Obviously due to the seasonality of certain products such as summer clothing, gardening products or outdoor decoration, theme parks and more. And also because in the summer months many companies take the opportunity to offer discounts and special offers, a clear example being the Amazon Prime Days…
In second place The consumer’s own preferences largely determine their shopping experience. Some data that gives us clues about trends and behavior of shoppers in Spain:
- 67% want more rewarding shopping experiences
- 58% who cannot pay for a product or service the way they want will abandon a store or the online checkout process
- 77% would like more personalized discounts at the stores they shop at regularly
- 61% are more loyal to retailers who offer online returns in-store.
- 63% are also more loyal if they can buy an item they don’t have in stock and have it delivered straight to their home.
Another piece of information showing a trend towards more convenient shopping is that according to reports from the Spanish Logistics Center (CEL), in 2019 only 30% of internet sales in our country involved physical delivery. But now, and post-pandemic, 50% of orders will reach front doors by mid-2023. This value can increase in the summer months.
The great impact of consumer habits on the environment is undeniable. For this reason, according to a survey by EAE Business School, 88% of users consider it relevant that e-commerce can provide information and sustainable optionsboth products and services as well as their deliveries.
Added to this is the economic outlook with uncertainty and an environment of persistent inflation. The vast majority of shoppers (78%) are now spending more time browsing online and in physical stores for the best deals.
In short, consumers have become more demanding in many areas and companies must continue to invest to meet these needs. It is crucial to improve the shopping experience through speed, security, reliability, while at the same time personalization and flexibility. Nearly nothing. How is this achieved?
1. Consolidate payment technology between channels
Therefore, Businesses enable their buyers to shop across channels in a fluid way. Retailers who integrated their online and in-store payments into a single system and used unified commerce increased their sales by 8% more than those who didn’t.
2. Offer the most relevant payment methods in each market
This part is the key to the flexibility and customization that customers demand. In Spain, alongside cards, which continue to dominate, we see the growth of digital wallets, online banking solutions and BNPL (‘buy now, pay later’ or ‘deferred payment’). Offering the right mix has a very important impact on checkout conversion rate.
3. Increase the personalization of the shopping experience
By unifying the payment systems Businesses can see what their shoppers are doing both online and in-store and understand their behavior. At Adyen, we’re facilitating this task with the launch of Data Connect for Marketing, a product that enables companies to understand their customers’ purchasing behavior based on payment data, identify transactions across channels, enable customer profiling, and enrich user information larger Personalization.
Faced with the heat of summer and the continuous socio-economic changes that produce an increasingly demanding shopper, the best recipe is to further increase flexibility and shopping convenience across all channels and to unify them.