Today’s Omnichannel Shopper Base: Larger and More Loyal

A recent analysis of nearly 600 million shopper transactions gleaned fresh insights on the scope and impact of today’s omnichannel shoppers. The deep dive from Symphony RetailAI has revealed that the omnichannel continues to widen, with hybrid-shopping households growing at a clip of 10% a year and online-shopping household penetration up 60% over pre-pandemic levels.

In addition to confirming a growing omnichannel shopper base, the global provider of integrated artificial intelligence-powered marketing, merchandising and supply chain solutions found that shoppers who browse and buy across more channels tend to be more loyal and prolific than those who only shop at physical stores. Omnichannel shoppers outperformed store-exclusive customer across all key measures of loyalty and also tended to spend more: Symphony RetailAI’s research found that these buyers generate an incremental spend of 16% with higher shopping frequency and basket size.

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“The rate of digital adoption was essentially accelerated by a decade during the pandemic,” reported Laetitia Berthier, head of client management, Europe, for Symphony RetailAI. “The growth today is less hyperbolic than a year ago, but the rising share of total business in e-commerce strongly points to the need to understand the value and the changing needs of the online customer. Retailers really have to tailor the online experience to their needs that are evolving quickly and very different from in-store.”

To that point, a positive digital experience is key to loyalty and spend. Akin to in-store experiences, customers won’t return or won’t spend as much at online retailers if they are not satisfied, the transactional data affirms. Symphony RetailAI’s research shows that up to 40% of customers will give up on online channels after one purchase and even if some of them return to store, they spend almost 3% less than before.

“The contrast between incremental spend increase in omnichannel versus churn underscores the importance of strong grocer collaboration with CPGs,” remarked Rachael Hadaway, SVP of product management, customer-centric retailing, Symphony RetailAI. “Proactive data-sharing and strategic coordination allows both parties to detect ever-changing and fast-moving trends and preferences to better meet shoppers’ needs with precision.”