Consulting theft is not an issue

It is well known that the retail world can no longer be imagined without the online channel. However, the study "Cross-Channel im Umbruch - Das Informations- und Kaufverhalten der Konsumenten Vol. 7" by ECC Cologne and Hybris shows just how pronounced cross-channel shopping behavior actually is among consumers.

Almost two thirds of German internet users are so-called selective online shoppers who shop both online and in-store. Only just under eight percent of those surveyed for the study do not like shopping online.

"The traditional retail shopper is dying out, but not brick-and-mortar retail."

says Eva Stüber, Head of Research and Consulting at IFH Cologne.

"A look at the younger target group reveals that only a minority will continue to store exclusively online in the future. Consumers will continue to shop both online and in city centers"

Stüber continues.

Online research first

Across all product groups, almost 40% of purchases in bricks-and-mortar stores are prepared by searching for information in online stores. This means that the number of cross-channel purchases has increased once again.

For smart natives in particular, online is the showroom par excellence: more than half of purchases made by 20 to 25-year-olds are prepared in online stores. In contrast, theft of advice hardly seems to be an issue: only one in ten online purchases is made in a bricks-and-mortar store.

"The boundaries between the individual channels are dissolving. Customers no longer think in terms of channels, but want to switch seamlessly between the digital and physical worlds"

says Michael Hubrich, Senior Vice President Sales CEC MEE at Hybris.

"This is a challenge for retailers. They have to offer customers the best of both worlds across all channels. This means they have to coordinate all channels and interaction offerings to provide a consistent shopping experience and know their customers like the back of their hand in order to provide them with targeted advice."