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Oracle research finds price, product, choice, promotions and technology are key to creating a winning shopping experience   The latest research on the future of retail in 2025 according to the digital native generation born after 1980, has found the shopping experience of the future needs to be connected, fit-for-purpose and always available, according to Oracle.  

Oracle research finds price, product, choice, promotions and technology are key to creating a winning shopping experience

 

The latest research on the future of retail in 2025 according to the digital native generation born after 1980, has found the shopping experience of the future needs to be connected, fit-for-purpose and always available, according to Oracle.

 

The IT firm commissioned the survey in July 2011 to examine the views of digital natives to current shopping needs and their expectations of these needs in 2025 as they come of age, interviewing 1,514 young consumers between 19-23 years from the UK, Germany and France.

 

Results, published at the World Retail Congress yesterday, revealed that digital natives love to shop but are discerning; wanting differentiated products, pricing and services based on their preferences, to interact with retailers when and how it suits them. Moreover this experience should be seamless and through whatever channel they choose.

 

Digital natives are store shoppers

 

Technology will by key to expediting the shopping experience, whether instore to facilitate a sale, or using online channels to research and compare price, promotions and choice, suggesting that retailers must optimise their operations in support of customer priorities and operate in a “connected 24-hour environment,” it stated.

 

German consumers were the most internet savvy using online channels to shop and research more than their international counterparts, while British digital natives were more likely to use self-service technologies instore and, in particular, are keen to be given the opportunity to do so in fashion stores.

 

Findings also reveal that stores remain the channel of choice for digital natives and will remain critical to the shopping experience of the future, which has meaningful impact for bricks and mortar retailers.

 

When it comes to online shopping however, this group prefers pureplay internet retailers over multichannel retailers who have expanded their businesses online, illustrating that the latter must continue to invest in developing their multichannel strategies from an organisational, operational and technical perspective to meet the growth of e-commerce.

 

Financially savvy demographic

 

Price emerged as the most important purchasing criteria for this group and is predicted to remain so in 2025 along with promotions; and, while product range is also a key motivator, brand appeared to be less important than price, range and assortment.

 

Despite their preferences, the research also found retailers currently appear not to be targeting this group correctly with personalised promotions, indicating that there is opportunity for retailers to make better use of sales and customer data to deliver actionable insight to drive sales.

 

The key findings of the research were announced by Mike Webster, Oracle Retail senior vice president and general manager, at a session on The Retail Consumer in the Year 2025 at the World Retail Congress in Berlin.

 

He stated: “To drive long-term growth, retailers need to provide superior experiences that consumers are demanding. The research supports the importance of creating a solutions platform that provides a connected multichannel shopping experience.”

 

Oracle has made a whitepaper, entitled The Future of Retail: Through the Eyes of Digital Natives, that provides more findings and analysis on its survey results that is available to download following registration.

www.oracle-retail.com/digitalnatives