Consumer demands for personalized, seamless, and convenient shopping experiences, coupled with technology advancements, set the roadmap for the future of commerce. Digital and omnichannel commerce was already steadily rising as a strategic priority for many organizations before the pandemic, and for many the investment is paying off. The 2022 Omnichannel Retail Index reveals that top-scoring retailers and brands are aggressively increasing adoption rates of omnichannel capabilities such as optimized search, frictionless checkout and cross-channel capabilities. Despite this, the average adoption rate of best practice capabilities has lingered around 60% for the past years and many companies in the Index have yet to adopt standard functionality that should be table stakes by now. The harsh reality that many retailers and brands face today leaves no room for slow adoption – if dissatisfied, shoppers know another retailer is only a click away.
Retailers and brands should use the Omnichannel Retail Index to evaluate current capabilities and develop a prioritized roadmap for meeting customer demands.
Key Takeaways
- The highest-ranking company in the 2022 Omnichannel Retail Index has implemented 85% of digital and omnichannel best-practice capabilities. That is a huge jump from the 2021 Omnichannel Retail Index when the highest score was just 72%, and a sign that digital investments are paying off.
- While the leaders continuously get stronger, most retailers and brands in the Index score below the overall average of 61% adoption of best-practice capabilities. When it comes to delivering seamless, convenient, and frictionless shopping experiences that most shoppers today expect, most organizations fall short, leaving a lot of room for improvement.
- The implementation of omnichannel capabilities such as buy online, pick up in store (BOPIS) and curbside pickup has increased significantly over the past years, accelerated by the Pandemic. BOPIS has become a table stake service, offered by 84%, but the adoption of supporting functionalities that enable frictionless experiences has remained largely flat in the past years including the ability to schedule pickup times, filter by store availability, and more.
- Sustainability is fast becoming a consumer priority, and for the first time, the Omnichannel Retail Index measured how organizations are embracing sustainability. 67% of retailers and brands in the Index promote sustainable products or have implemented larger sustainability programs such goals for reducing carbon footprints, green packaging and more.
- As retailers and brands look to broaden their customer base and explore new ways to close a sale, the adoption of alternative payments and ‘buy now pay later’ (BNPL) features continues to rise. A customer favorite, especially among younger shoppers, BNPL is one of the fastest growing criteria in the Index, today offered by 74% compared to just 38% in 2019.
