Average adoption of best practices is up, but the Omnichannel Retail Index uncovers many gaps and opportunities for improvement, even among Index winners
FitForCommerce today announced the release of the 2021 Omnichannel Retail Index findings. The Omnichannel Retail Index, which was first released in 2015 in partnership with the National Retail Federation, is the most comprehensive benchmarking study in the industry. Each year, the Index examines how 100 retailers and brands from 13 verticals perform across more than 250 digital and in-store criteria.
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As the COVID-19 pandemic persists and consumer habits take new shape, retailers continue to rely on digital and omnichannel capabilities to keep their “doors” open. The 2021 FitForCommerce Omnichannel Retail Index reveals an overall increase in the adoption of digital and omnichannel best practice functionalities from 54% in 2019 to 62%. The pandemic forced retailers and brands to double down on critical functionality such as BOPIS, Curbside Pickup and inventory availability features, but even among the Omnichannel Retail Index winners, there is a lot of room for growth.
In addition to the accelerated adoption of core omnichannel services and improvements to digital overall, the average Omnichannel Retail Index score for in-store capabilities was 75% compared to just 59% in 2019. The higher percentage of adoption can be attributed to the fact that retailers and brands are doubling down on the in-store experience and improving offerings to support omnichannel services such as easier returns, designated parking for pickup, and a focus on creating safer shopping environments by embracing features such as mobile payments.
“As retailers adapt to the new reality, meeting the demands of both experienced and novice digital shoppers, the Omnichannel Retail Index provides meaningful insights to help retailers today, as well as important benchmarks and best practices that can be applied to prioritize and plan for the future,” said Kathy Kimple, Chief Retail Officer, FitForCommerce.
The Omnichannel Retail Index digital report outlines key findings from the latest study including insights into the adoption of best practices and key digital and omnichannel capabilities compared to previous years.
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Some of the key findings in the report include:
- 89% of omnichannel companies have the ability to access your personal information (e.g., past online orders, store purchases) – up from 68% in the last study.
- Following a slow start, the majority of retailers in the Omnichannel Retail Index now embrace Live Chat somewhere on the site at an 88% adoption rate.
- 86% offer BOPIS and 92% out of those allow you to also return in store.
- Curbside pickup skyrocketed from 4% in 2019 to 73% in 2021.
- Although significantly up from pre-pandemic, only 57% allow you to combine store pick up and ship-to-home items in checkout.
- 52% offer extended payment (Buy Now Pay Later) options.
