50% of (consumers) expect to be able to pick up purchases made online in a physical store.
Omni-channel environments where customers can shop online and offline at the same retailer are increasingly ubiquitous.
71% of shoppers surveyed expect to find in-store inventory information online, regarding it is as critical to their purchase descision. In fact 39% of (consumers) said they were unlikely or very unlikely to visit a retailer's store if they could not do so.
The Omni-channel experience (is) where a retailer can use many ways to reach customers... What (companies) need to focus on is connecting together the in-store experience with their own online offering and the follow-up customer service.
(There's)an "undeniable" consumer trand towards "more complex paths-to-purchase", which mix the online and physical purchasing experience... It is therefore a must to develop a single platform for interacting with customers if retailers are build to an effective cross-channel strategy.
Retailers need both omnichannel inventory visibility as well as pro-active inventory management so inventory can be redeployed across channels... Retailers need real-time, agile inventory for this to work.
