Study Finds BOPIS (Buy Online, Pickup In Store) Will Boost Holiday For Slumping Retail

LEWISVILLE, Texas, Sept. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Retailers heading into the holiday shopping season are grappling with which promotions will drive sales and protect margins this year. Online shopping and showrooming are eroding brick-and-mortar traffic and spend. New shopper research from parago shows that consumers can be persuaded to shop in store, and many are interested in marrying new and old shopping tactics by buying online and picking up in store.

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"Online retail is growing, but not as fast as offline brick-and-mortar is contracting. Many customers who shop online don't come in store much, and they tend to expect greater selection, cheaper prices and free shipping, which erode margins already battered by price-match strategies," said Rodney Mason, CMO of parago, a global incentives and engagement company. "The good news for retailers is that shoppers are willing to change their behaviors in ways that are more advantageous to the industry. Shoppers just need (and in most cases are not being offered) the right incentives to do so."

The parago 2014 Shopper Study titled "BOPIS and BISBO Will Propel Retail into Orbit" shows consumers are driven by convenience and price, reveals online shopping habits, and examines which incentives retailers can offer to beat the preference for online shopping. The study can be downloaded for free here. Key findings from the research include:

• Incentives accelerate BOPIS: 63% of shoppers BOPIS (buy online, pickup in store) at least a few times a year, but 82% percent would consider doing so to receive a $10 rebate on a $50 item. This option marries the convenience of online comparison shopping with the immediate gratification of same-day pickup.
• BISBO (Buy In Store, Buy Online) improves customer experience and closes more sales. Customers want and look for easy-to-use enhanced selection and options from online while standing in store.
• The preference for online shopping is skyrocketing: A significant and growing preference for online is emerging across categories and in some of them — such as electronics and entertainment — online is preferred by the majority over offline.
• Convenience and price are driving customers online: Last year online was driven by price, but as offline stores have improved their price strategies and online continues to improve their experience — particularly for mobile — convenience has become a significant deciding factor for purchasing online.
• Motivated shoppers shop more: The study finds that the top incentive for changing shopper behavior is a prepaid card reward that can be spent anywhere. Branding the card with the store brand and coupling it with an offer drives significant double-digit spendback in store.
• Showrooming is still on a steep trajectory: More than 80% of adults 18–48 years old have a smartphone. Of these shoppers, over 70% of all adults regularly compare prices and make purchases on their smartphones while standing in stores. Amazon and Google are the primary ways they compare prices.
• The economy is still a challenge: 66% of adult consumers continue to believe that the US economy is headed in the wrong direction. In fact, one third of shoppers report that they are purchasing less for this reason and require a significant price incentive to make any incremental purchase.

To identify emerging online and offline shopping trends, parago conducted this shopper research in July of 2014. 1992 adults representative of the US consumer population responded to this original online survey.

about parago
parago is a custom incentive company specializing in retail and consumer products. parago is headquartered Dallas, TX and has an office in London, UK. For more information, visit www.parago.com, the parago blog or Twitter. parago: the thought that counts.

Rodney Mason is one of the most followed CMOs in the world http://twitter.com/rodmoose via social media. He can be reached at [email protected].

To view the multimedia assets associated with this release, please click:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7319251-parago-study-finds-bopis-will-boost-holiday-for-slumping-retail/

SOURCE parago