A total of 92 percent of UK retailers are failing customers by not having a ‘view’ of their customers across all sales channels and by not being consistent in what they offer across these channels, according to the findings of a new survey published today.

The survey provides persuasive evidence that it is only those retailers adept at handling customers across all the major channels who are likely to prosper. Consumers are increasingly expecting retailers, at the very least, to provide a clear and consistent brand proposition across the channels. The survey, commissioned by business and information technology consultancy Charteris plc and conducted by Martec International, involved detailed interviews with retailers whose total sales exceed £40 billion and who have more than 18,000 stores. The survey found that despite the fact that multi-channel retailing is now big business, levels of sophistication and integration are still not high even in most
leading retailers.

‘The survey suggests that most UK retailers are poorly equipped to deal with the new breed of multi-channel shopper,’ says Martin Chitty, head of the retail practice at Charteris. ‘The majority of retailers are still running separate channels that don’t “talk” to each other. Such retailers lag far behind in the race to build up a complete picture of individual consumer behaviour needed to earn lasting customer loyalty.’

Martin Chitty adds: ‘Retailing is now at a crossroads, the customer is setting the pace and a road map that places the customer at the heart of a business is essential to
ensure successful multi-channel retailing. It is now easier than ever to integrate systems and processes and provide real time information across and between all sales channels.’
The survey also shows that, while the Internet holds its place as the main new sales channel, the current area of fastest growth is m-commerce – the use of mobile phones for promotions and sales.

The survey - ‘UK Multi-Channel Retailing Research Report 2006’ – found that most of leading UK retailers deploy up to four sales channels. For every bricks and mortar channel there is nearly always a web channel. Call centres (83 percent) and catalogues (78 percent) follow. There is some early progress in mobile channels too. However, although multi-channel retailing is clearly the way ahead, the complexity of integrating all this customer activity gets ever more challenging. In particular, most retailers appear to be operating separate processes for their stores and other sales channels. 

Martin Chitty adds: ‘It’s very clear from the findings that retailers often lag behind the sophistication of the shopper. However modern technologies now make it easier
than ever to join data from different processes together in a progressive rather than ‘big bang’ way, which is good news for retailers able to harness quickly these new
opportunities.’