Euclid Analytics report shows that big data is transforming the way retailers think about customers.
A new Black Friday Retail Benchmarks report from Euclid Analytics is demonstrating why data is harmonizing the chasm between brick-and-mortar and online retail, asserting that Black Friday sales will never be the same.
The report asserts that “Black Friday 2015 represented a turning point for both brick-and-mortar and online retailers alike.” In fact, the study shows, brick-and-mortar and online retailers are starting to play together well, finding a “retail harmony” balance through big data. The results are starting to pay off.
Euclid Analytics, the leader in location analytics, measured data on hundreds of millions of shopping sessions across the US during November to determine how retailers were capitalizing on the holiday shopping season.
The Euclid study revealed that “omni-channel data is providing equilibrium to the retail landscape. By focusing on both ‘bricks and clicks’ with a single view of the customer, successful retailers continue to boost their engagement rates. Despite the decrease in year-over-year traffic, physical stores are capitalizing on the strengths of their locations and keeping shoppers.”
The study also found that physical stores are still critical to the retail sales experience, with the engagement rate rising 1.1 percent and in-store dwell time increasing 1.4 percent year-over-year. As the study assets, “This boost in engagement validates the ongoing strides that retailers have made to keep shoppers in-store and increase chances of a purchase.”
Shoppers are losing their focus on Black Friday, spreading their holiday shopping out over more days, with the percentage of shoppers on Black Friday dropping almost 1.5 percent year-over-year, while Thanksgiving Day and the Saturday after Black Friday have seen 0.5 percent and 1.1 percent increases year-over-year respectively. This is influenced by the fluidity between online and offline shopping.
Some omni-channel retailers are also solving the loyalty issue. Specifically on Black Friday, omni-channel retailers like Best Buy and Sears were able to achieve success aligning their online and brick-and-mortar operations to maintain customer loyalty. While loyalty declined 0.10 percent month-over-month and 1.5 percent year over year, retailers that can achieve omni-channel nirvana and measure it accordingly will dominate.
