It has been a successful start to the holiday shopping season. According to the IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark, online sales this year were up over 20% compared to last year for black Friday, with 16% of the consumers buying with their smartphones. Overall 58 percent of consumers used smartphones compared to 41 percent who used tablets to surf for bargains on Black Friday.
Consumers undertaking this multi-screen shopping – shopping in store, online and on mobile devices simultaneously – are creating a new dynamic for retailers. These shoppers expect a seamless experience, with the retailer knowing their order from start to finish – no matter how many channels are crossed in the process. To support this behavior, retailers are upgrading their e-commerce solutions to deliver a more seamless experience for the consumer. These solutions support the ability to identify the consumer across the multiple screens and provide order history to suggest offers to the consumer that are tailored to their unique interests, as well as allow them to return items anywhere.
With IBM Smarter Commerce, retailers gain the visibility of their customer’s actions across multiple channels, and powerful capabilities that transform the shopping experience, even for these new types of shoppers. What will be next? Same day delivery, or purchasing from a television program. Regardless, you can count on IBM to be at the forefront of helping retailers provide a seamless shopping experience for the consumer no matter how they choose to interact.
