High street stores face a decline in market share of up to 15% in the next five years at the hands of online retailers – unless they offer customers the same kind of swift product information available on the web.
The claim comes in a new report produced by the University of Hertfordshire Business School, on behalf of guided selling solutionis provider Retec Digital.
The report urges bricks-and-mortar shops to learn from the leaps and bounds made by e-tailers over the past two years.
Instant access to accurate product information tailored to the customer’s needs and stock availability were highlighted as examples of where the high street falls down.
Ever-increasing and evolving product ranges and a typically high turnover of staff were identified as “problem areas” for providing such levels of service.
Report co-author Sofie Mallick, lead academic at the University of Hertfordshire Business School, said: “The birth of e-tailing has dramatically evolved consumer needs and expectations in all areas of the retail environment.”
