IKEA, Apple and Marks & Spencer along with other key omnichannel retailers including Argos, Harvey Nichols and House of Fraser, have topped the charts of the first ever Connected Retail Index, with a combination of mobile technology, in-store connectivity and tech-enabled customer service.
Commissioned by retail technology partner Red Ant and designed to provide a detailed picture of the state of play for retail technology on the UK high street, the Connected Retail Index uses a market-first combination of desk-based and field research using 6,000 data points to give unprecedented insight into 200 UK retailers, with in-depth analysis of the key areas of connected customer experience from dedicated consumer applications and value-added features such as click and collect to assisted sales and in-store technology.
The index uses a fully transparent scoring system, and is based only on publicly observable data – making it the first of its kind to offer an objective assessment of the winners and losers in omnichannel retail.
While the retailers in the top 10 generally have a reputation for tech-enabled customer service and retail innovation, the Index as a whole yielded some surprises:
- The majority of retailers (56%) do not offer a mobile app and availability differs widely, from 75% of FMCG to just 17% of Discount stores
- 3 out of 4 retailers now offer click and collect, but just 10% have a dedicated area of the store for it, and only half can offer a next-day service
- General (department stores and multi-category) and Technology retailers did best overall, scoring nearly 50% better than average – Luxury retailers, however, lag far behind with only Discount stores faring worse:
Retail sectors in order of points
1 General (department stores and multi-category retailers)
2 Technology
3 Footwear
4 Sports & Leisure
5 Health & Beauty
6 Fashion
7 Home & DIY
8 FMCG
9 Specialist
10 Luxury
11 Discount
- Only 1 in 3 retailers have store stock levels visible on the website
- More retailers have digital signage (47%) than customer WiFi (44%)
- Of the retailers that offer WiFi, 2 in 3 neglect to advertise it
- Two thirds of retailers now offer in-store eCommerce ordering, with 40% doing so on colleague mobile devices, but 21% still don’t allow customers to return website purchases in-store
- Smaller retailers (with less than 100 UK stores) scored 25% better on average than their larger counterparts
- A handful of retailers are pulling away from the pack – the difference in score between 1st and 21st was nearly 30%
On taking first place in the Connected Retail Index, Gordon Bell, Head of Customer Experience & Multichannel Development at IKEA, said ‘Here at IKEA we are very aware that we all want to shop whenever and however suits us at any given time. Our plans are focused on connecting what we all know of the uniqueness of a huge IKEA store with our current and future planned different formats, as well as online and through our touch points including our support centres and the famous IKEA catalogue. There are many people here at IKEA working continuously on the future shopping experiences that will be essential for us to bring as a retailer.’
Dan Mortimer, CEO at Red Ant, said: ‘The retail landscape has evolved to a point where customers have an unprecedented level of choice over how, when and where they shop, and the Connected Retail Index is a tremendous resource for identifying where our most popular retailers are and where they’re going. It’s an invaluable and timely insight into the industry as a whole – one which should help to shape the store of the future.’
You can access the full Connected Retail Index and its methodology here: https://www.connectedretailindex.com/
