The Future of Retail – According to Shoppers [Infographic and Report]

Based on Cap Gemini’s recent global report on the future of retail (free download), local shopping search engine Milo has produced an infographic on how consumers see the future of retail.

Putting aside the whole mis-attributed H. Ford quote thing (“If I’d asked my customers what they wanted, they’d have said a faster horse”), it’s interesting that consumers see showrooming as the future of bricks and mortar stores. (n= 16,000 digital shoppers across 16 developing and mature markets)

[quote]The retail landscape as we know it is set to change. More than half of the respondents from both developing and mature markets said they expect physical stores for increasing numbers of categories will simply become showrooms to select and order products by 2020.[/quote]

More generally the Cap Gemini report found that consumers expect retailers to deliver an integrated multi-channel service – web, traditional, social media, mobile apps and in-store kiosks.

The study also highlighted that 56 percent of respondents are likely to spend more money at a physical store if they had used digital channels to research the product prior to purchase, however 73 percent of respondents also expect online prices to be lower than those in physical stores.