Digital Interactions Influence $1.1 Trillion In Retail Sales

By Ally Orlando, contributing writer

New research reveals that retail manufacturers and resellers could benefit significantly by the mobile shopping solutions you provide.

Deloitte Digital published a study revealing that digital interactions influence more than one third (36 percent) of retail sales, which translates to $1.1 trillion — an amount that’s expected to rise 50 percent of retail sales by the end of the year.

The study, titled “The New Digital Divide,” was conducted in November 2013 and sampled 2,006 random consumers. It demonstrates the influence that consumers’ use of desktop and laptop computers, tablets, and smartphones has on the retail industry.

Deloitte Digital chief retail innovation officer Kasey Lobaugh suggests that retail service providers should examine consumers’ path to purchase to provide solutions that deliver ROI.

“Retailers that narrowly focus on digital commerce — rather than the full journey that leads to a purchase — often fail to recognize how their customers shop and make decisions in the store,” Lobaugh says. “The result is a digital divide between what consumers do and what retailers deliver. This gap not only threatens overall revenue, but requires retailers to reset the way they measure and invest in digital efforts.”

Today’s mobile commerce sales from smartphones alone are estimated at $40 billion, eMarketer reports. Compared with $593 billion in total mobile-influenced sales, as Deloitte Digital research found, it can be deduced that smartphone influence on the industry has surpassed the rate at which consumers make purchases directly on their phones.

The study suggests VARs that offer digital shopping technology could deliver more effective solutions to their retail customers. It reports that consumers who use their device while shopping covert at a rate 40 percent higher than those who do not.

In addition, digital shopping has a significant impact on consumer spending and loyalty. Eighty-four percent of consumers use their devices before or during a shopping trip and 22 percent of consumers spend more as a result of using digital — with more than half of them spending at least 25 percent more than they had intended.

However, the widespread use of mobile shopping technology doesn’t mean that it’s costing brick-and-mortar stores. According to calculations from the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 90 percent of retail sales occur in brick-and-mortar stores. The proliferation of mobile shopping requires retail service providers to redefine their products’ role in the physical store.

Self-service kiosks might be an effective way to do so. Eighty percent of respondents to the Deloitte Digital study said they would rather gain product information on their own device or from an in-store device than from a sales associate.

Experts at Deloitte Digital describe mobile shopping as part of a larger picture, rather than a be-all end-all. “Mobile and online transactions represent only a sliver of total retail revenue potential,” Lobaugh says.

Co-author of the study Jeff Simpson cautions that the impact of digital engagement “is much higher when measured holistically across the organization and regardless of channels, rather than force-fitted to a single point of purchase.”