Four important areas all retailers must focus on in 2024

Prioritise fixing cart and checkout experiences 

Cart and checkout refers to the set of retailer capabilities and experiences that help shoppers make a positive decision at the most critical point of conversion, or indeed abandonment.

Today’s modern shopping journeys are punctuated by a staccato, start-stop nature. Retailers must provide consumers with seamless continuity as they switch between the physical and the digital spaces, especially between shopping carts and wishlists so the burden is not on shoppers to repeat stages more than once. 

This segment should matter to retailers as the benchmark findings suggest that over half (51 per cent) of shoppers say checkout is the ‘Number 1’ area that retailers should focus on if they want to improve the in-store experience. More than a third (37 per cent) said they would abandon their cart if they had to re-enter payment or delivery details more than once, and 35 per cent claimed that they would also abandon a shopping cart if the checkout process was taking too long. 

Europe’s ‘Leaders’ in this segment have a higher adoption rate of customer experience capabilities such as promo code visibility in shopping cart, expedited guest checkout and payment options including gift cards and monthly instalments. However, key gaps remain and the adoption of high-impact capabilities, such as pay via close-loop wallets, using clickable promo codes and redeeming loyalty points for payments, is still low.

Keeping brand promises matters

Promising and fulfilment was the third area the benchmark looked at. It refers to the set of retailer capabilities and experiences related to offering shoppers the choice, confidence and clarity of how and when they can receive their orders. 

If retailers can assist shoppers with important ordering and delivery-related information across the shopping journey, they increase their probability of conversion. 

“What is the earliest I could get this item and how? Can I order an item for in-store pick-up and another for delivery as part of the same order? Can a store associate help me back-order an item currently out of stock in my preferred colour or size? Or could I modify my order post-purchase because I’ve changed my mind?” 

These are all scenarios that will likely sound familiar to many of us. However, with 73 per cent of shoppers valuing same business day delivery, 59 per cent preferring to use a subscription-based model to get their essentials delivered and 68 per cent wanting self-service options that allow orders to be edited after being placed, questions like these really matter. 

‘Leaders’ in Europe demonstrate a higher adoption rate of customer experience capabilities, such as multiple delivery options like BOPIS (Buy Online, Pick Up In Store), order tracking and real-time order updates and self-service options. However, split deliveries, the ability to compare delivery dates before checkout and to modify orders post-purchase, is still low.