Zebra Study: 75% of Millennials Give Up on In-Store Shopping Due to Out-of-Stocks

Six in ten shoppers believe self-service solutions improve customer satisfaction.
Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: ZBRA), a company offering businesses innovative solutions that give them a competitive edge, announced the results of its twelfth annual Global Shopper Study. The study is the industry's only tool analyzing the behavior of shoppers, store employees and senior executives, as well as examining retail and technology trends affecting customer shopping behavior.

Main Reasons for Abandoning Purchases

75% of surveyed millennials and more than half (53%) of Gen X shoppers admit they have left a store empty-handed and bought the product they were looking for online. The main reason retailers are recording lower in-store sales results is problems with inventory management, particularly out-of-stocks. Both shoppers and store employees are dissatisfied with the number of out-of-stock occurrences. 43% of retailers cite customer complaints about out-of-stocks as their main source of frustration, and 39% of shoppers admit they have left a store empty-handed due to a lack of stock.

Self-Checkout and New Technologies

Self-checkout lanes are an increasingly common sight in retail stores. 40% of customers declared using such solutions within the past six months, and 86% admit these technologies are convenient to use. Moreover, most shoppers (58%), especially millennials (70%), admit that self-checkout lanes improve customer satisfaction. Most store employees (54%) admit that the presence of new technologies automating the payment process makes traditional checkout lanes increasingly unnecessary. Nearly nine in ten (87%) surveyed senior managers believe self-checkout lanes allow retailers to focus on customer service, and 81% believe technology investments are starting to pay off.

– Our study shows that although high service quality strengthens the loyalty of existing customers and attracts new ones, retailers cannot forget such basic issues as product availability and ease of finding them, as well as handling returns and exchanges – says Anees Haidri, Director of Strategy for the global retail market at Zebra Technologies. – To win customers, retailers must meet their expectations: provide seamless shopping possible through various channels. It is also important to use technology that enables more personalized services in the area of inventory management and optimizing business operations.

Discrepancy Between Management and Customer Assessment

Although delivering better shopping experiences to customers will be crucial for maintaining their loyalty, there is a clear discrepancy between the expectations of senior executives and customers. 77% of executives believe customers are satisfied with in-store service, while only 57% of shoppers declare this to be the case. The survey also indicated significant discrepancies between the actual level of customer satisfaction with returns and exchanges (59%) and management's perception of this level (80%). Investments in mobile solutions have contributed to a kind of consensus between senior executives (85%) and store employees (73%). Both sides agree that equipping retailers with modern technologies allows them to provide customers with better shopping experiences.

Retailers are also trying to improve the customer experience during store visits through the use of robots. Although over the past six months only 7% of surveyed customers have interacted with a robot in a store environment, nearly 72% admitted they have no problem with it. Meanwhile, 32% of retail employees expressed concern about the prospect of losing their jobs due to stores being equipped with robots.

KEY FINDINGS FROM INDIVIDUAL REGIONS

Asia Pacific

  • Nearly half (49%) of surveyed customers prefer to shop online due to the convenience of returns handling.
  • 53% of shoppers make purchases in physical stores using a mobile device/store app for this purpose.

Millennials Give Up on In-Store Shopping: Main Reasons

Europe and the Middle East

  • 66% of shoppers are satisfied with the ability to make payments anywhere in the store.
  • Only 14% of shoppers fully trust retailers when it comes to personal data protection.

Latin America

  • 71% of shoppers believe self-checkout lanes provide a better shopping experience, and 64% prefer using such solutions to standing in line at a traditional checkout.
  • 83% of shoppers expect a discount coupon or monetary reward in exchange for waiting four days for an online order to be fulfilled.

North America

  • Only 6% of shoppers declare full trust in retailers when it comes to personal data protection. This is the lowest result among all regions.
  • North American customers spend 58% of their holiday budget in physical stores.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE SURVEY AND METHODOLOGY

The twelfth annual Global Shopper Study was commissioned by Zebra and conducted by Qualtrics between August and September 2019. It involved 4,811 shoppers, 1,100 retail employees and 435 senior managers and executives from North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East.

Summary

The Global Shopper Study conducted by Zebra Technologies shows that due to out-of-stocks, as many as 75% of millennials and 53% of Gen X representatives give up on in-store shopping, choosing to buy online instead. Retailers should focus on improving inventory management, as well as investing in self-checkout lanes and mobile solutions which – according to employees and management – increase service comfort.

At the same time, the survey revealed significant discrepancies in the perception of service quality: while 77% of executives believe customers are satisfied, only 57% of shoppers declare this to be the case. Moreover, robots in stores still raise concerns – 32% of employees fear losing their jobs.