Merchants in the U.K. need to step up their game when it comes to providing customers with the cross-channel and digital shopping features that can make their shopping experiences faster and more convenient.
According to data from the U.K. edition of the 2022 Global Digital Shopping Playbook, part of a larger survey of 3,100 businesses and over 13,000 consumers across six countries, “just 56% of U.K. merchants allow customers to set up cross-channel-capable digital profiles, for example — 12% less than the average across the six countries in our study.”
Published in collaboration with Cybersource, the PYMNTS report also revealed that it is challenging for consumers to know whether a product is available, with 17% British retailers less than average offering real-time inventory status.
Read the Playbook: 2022 Global Digital Shopping Playbook – U.K. Edition
When it comes to incentives, U.K. merchants offered the least digital features across all six countries, with only 50% offering free shipping for digital orders, for example.
It comes as no surprise then that British merchants earn an average Index score of 89.4 points, 11% less than the average earned across all six countries.
Read more: Augmented Reality Encourages UK Shoppers to See In-Store Through Their Phones
But beyond the low score, failing to provide these features and incentives has a significant negative impact on omnichannel shopping and could potentially deter would-be customers.
In fact, U.K. consumers find themselves with “a more friction-laden online shopping experience — regardless of whether they are shopping on their computers or phones — than any of the other countries in our study,” the report further stated.
Related: 3 in 4 Brits Don’t Use Smartphones to Check Prices, Inventory In-Store
And as much as merchants need to improve their digital offerings, U.K. eCommerce shoppers could enhance the use of digital tools available to them.
According to the report, a meager 34% of British consumers use their smartphones to augment in-store shopping while just 24% of them — approximately 3.7 million people — use their smartphones to compare prices in real-time, check inventory statuses or search for search product reviews.
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