British consumers demand a personalised online retail experience

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The emergence of smartphones, tablets and laptops have enabled consumers to become more selective when looking for a bargain.

It’s a trend that has demonstrably changed the British high street with options such as click and collect. Indeed, Argos launched an augmented reality campaign last Christmas to offer digital competitions and deals to consumers through its festive catalogue.

In addition to the real world, consumers still expect more when they’re online too, as the study shows more than half of respondents expect retailers to send them product offers via email after they’ve viewed items on the web.

A third of customers want discounts sent to their inbox, and a special deal to follow when items have been abandoned in the basket. 

Omer Artun, founder and CEO of AgilOne, said: “These results show just how much power the shopper has in the UK. The huge amount of choice and availability online has resulted in consumers expecting brands or retailers to chase after them, even after they’ve abandoned a basket or left a website.”

The subject of customer loyalty is often discussed, but Brits want loyalty from retailers – over half expect businesses to remember previous purchases, 40 per cent want companies to know how long they’ve been a customer and a third want favourite goods to be remembered.

However, despite the desire to be recognised as individuals, over four out of five people don’t expect their size or birthday information saved and and just one in 20  wants retailers to know which emails they have read, the study says.

Artun added: “It’s essential then that retailers truly understand their customers. It could be financially damaging to merchants if they offered a discount to every customer that visited their website.

“By using data, retailers are able to spot trends and gain insight into individual shopping behaviour to ensure discounts are not being offered to customers that are likely to purchase goods at full price anyway.”

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