Study: Consumers still like shopping in stores — when the experience is right

Even in a digital age, consumers still enjoy shopping in stores — if the shopping experience meets their expectations. One of the biggest turnoffs: long lines.



That’s according to a new study from payments company Adyen, which revealed when a “preferred” shopping experience is implemented — whether it be changing how someone checks out or how they interact with sales associates — 63% of people claim they will shop more.



Long lines remain one of shoppers’ biggest in-store complaints, with 79% of survey respondents claiming to have left a store due to long lines. The average threshold for waiting in line is 10 minutes, according to the study, which found that 73% of sales are lost when a line is abandoned.



The study identified the advantages of bricks-and-mortar, with 86% of respondents wanting to go to a store to manage exchanges or returns of items purchased digitally. In other advantages, 60% of respondents ranked being able to see, touch, sample and try on items as the top reasons to shop in a store. And 33% said they enjoy shopping as a social activity and it is one of the top reasons they shop in a store.



Other key findings of the report include:



Retailers need to deliver unified commerce experiences that blend elements from in-store and online:

• 78% of people want to buy or reserve before going into the store;



• 69% do not use a sales associate for assistance, and prefer to browse themselves; and



• 54% want loyalty program information automatically tied to their credit card, even when shopping in-store.



Consumers are ready for future shopping experiences:

• 59% of people expect mobile payments to be ubiquitous in two years;



• 53%  of shoppers see AR/VR showrooming as a norm by five years; and



• 34% of shoppers want within the next 12 months, the ability to "just walk out" with an item, where they will be automatically charged and can skip the checkout line altogether.



"There are things that people enjoy about shopping in stores, and brick-and-mortar retail isn't going anywhere," said Roelant Prins, chief commercial officer at Adyen. "There are also things that people enjoy about shopping online though, and it's not as simple as just taking what works online and applying it to the physical world. It's about creating a unified experience, where the best parts of online are merged with the best parts of in-store to give shoppers exactly what they're looking for.”