Five9, Inc. (NASDAQ: FIVN), a leading provider of the intelligent cloud contact center, today announced the release of its 2021 Customer Service Index: Retail and eCommerce Edition, to help businesses anticipate consumer shopping trends ahead of the holiday season. The report reveals insights about pandemic-era eCommerce and end-of-the-year shopping, including how preferences diverge across age groups and geographies.
For example, the youngest group surveyed (18-29 year olds) is the most likely to shop in stores and wait for holiday sales to buy gifts. One in three 18-29 year olds begin their shopping on Black Friday, while the largest portion of overall survey respondents (31%) purchase gifts throughout the year as they see them on sale. This data suggests that the younger generation can be swayed by last-minute deals.
Shopping preferences also vary by region. COVID restrictions have undoubtedly impacted these results, with some countries imposing stronger restrictions than others.
While the largest portion of overall consumers will do their holiday shopping both in store and online this year (30%), only 18% of UK respondents and 19% of German respondents plan to go to malls and stores to buy their gifts. On the other hand, 40% of consumers in Spain and 32% of consumers in Italy will buy all their gifts in stores and are more likely to be influenced by retail events and in-store incentives.
“Understanding shopping preferences can help businesses proactively target buyers with specific campaigns around the holidays, particularly for retailers operating in multiple regions and geographies,” said Blair Pleasant, President & Principal Analyst of COMMfusion LLC, who authored the 2021 Customer Service Index: Retail and eCommerce Edition. “The data from this report, when combined with customer journey analytics within contact centers, can also be a powerful tool for driving sales and marketing strategies throughout the year.”
Successful CX in any Season
Nearly half (43%) of surveyed consumers are now doing the majority of their shopping online year-round (up from 22% pre-pandemic). Two out of three respondents who purchased items like clothing and groceries online for the first time during the pandemic say they will continue to do. Given these new preferences, implementing solutions to optimize the online user experience and increase conversions will be key for all retailers. Superior customer experiences will continue to drive loyalty and adoption into the future.
To help retailers turn more online shoppers into buyers, Five9 partners with Lucency to provide a solution that tracks real-time shopping cart activity on a retailer’s website and can alert contact center sales representatives to proactively engage an online shopper. Lucency can send an alert to the Five9 Intelligent Contact Center based on business rules, such as the value of items in a customer’s cart or the length of time a cart sits idle. A sales representative can then reach out in real time, armed with data about the customer and their shopping cart.
Delighting customers online not only drives sales; it can also lead to brand advocacy. More than half (51%) of surveyed consumers said they are likely to share their positive online shopping experiences on social media platforms – slightly outnumbering the 47% who say they are likely to share negative experiences.
