Addendum: Focal points from the French Survey White Paper

As the preceding white paper authored by the Institute for Commerce & International Marketing (H.I.M.A.) indicates, today’s busy, digitally enabled consumers expect retailers to offer technologies in support of the shopping experience that reflect the ease of use found in personal consumer technologies. The shift to a consumer-to-business (C2B) model in retailing is well under way with the consumer decidedly in control: They expect 24x7 self service and seamless connectivity across all channels and recognition of their individual preferences as they shop for goods and services. This shift in retailing toward self service and personalized interaction based on a consumer’s preferences and their presence in a channel is described as the converged retailing, or c-tailing™, revolution.

The 360o European c-tailing survey commissioned by NCR provided the data framework for the white paper, which presents the summary view of the attitudes of both consumers and retailers in France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom regarding converged retailing and key elements of preference, presence and personalization. The purpose of this addendum is to highlight the France-specific findings.

Consumers Weigh In on Kiosks and Internet Shopping
When French consumers venture into brick-and-mortar retail stores, 72% want to be able to take advantage of self-service technologies. Among the preferences include 19% surveyed preferring to use self-checkout stations to complete in-store transactions and 24% reported being willing to take advantage of mobile in-aisle technology. Twenty-eight percent of French consumers still preferred to be checked out only by a sales associate.

Survey respondents also acknowledged that they would utilize in-store kiosks for the following purposes: to locate products within the store in different departments (18%); to take advantage of customer loyalty programs (16%); to make product comparisons (15%); to learn about available products or to utilize a mobile shopping assistant (13%); or to order a product (10%).

While the surveyed consumers specified a strong preference for using in-store kiosks to enhance their shopping experience, the survey also suggests that the trend will be for a growing number of French shoppers to use the Internet to make their purchases. In the coming year, 71% expected to make more purchases online; however, 63% still expected to increase purchases via a cashier in-store.

Retailers Must Adopt Channel Convergence to Keep Competitive
The retailers interviewed for this survey confirmed that technology has transformed how consumers engage them. Not only has technology created opportunities to expand their business channels, but it has also impacted how they manage these channels. Nearly 90% of the retailers surveyed across Europe acknowledged that the emergence of the C2B model puts the consumer squarely in control of the “who, what, where, when and how” of the shopping experience. In light of this development, retailers are now emphasizing the importance of channel convergence and recognize the value of cross-channel consumers. Three out of four retailers surveyed stated that channel convergence had a high or very high importance for their company. Another 65% further acknowledged that cross-channel consumers are their most valuable consumer segment.

European retailers also showed themselves to be poised to seize the opportunity to align their businesses with c-tailing, which they believe will add tremendous value to the consumer’s shopping experience. Eighty-two percent of retailers stated they believe that c-tailing will result in higher consumer loyalty, while 76% saw the potential for differentiation through c-tailing in their respective market. Several factors, including the potential growth of sales and margin, were cited by retailers as important outcomes for expanding their business operations to include c-tailing; however, listening and responding appropriately to consumer preferences were seen by European retailers as the most important value drive for adopting the new model.