Luxury brand delivers best omnichannel experience on the UK High Street, according to new research
Luxury brand delivers best omnichannel experience on the UK High Street, according to new research
Burberry is the retailer delivering the best omnichannel experience on the UK High Street, according to new research carried out by user experience agency Webcredible.
The luxury fashion retailer scored highest in the in-depth study of ten well-known UK High Street retail brands from an omnichannel perspective. But it also received an ‘excellent’ overall rating, with 75.4 out of a possible 100, where most other brands in the study only scored ‘average’.
Ranking by customer offering and appeal
The retailers in the study represented a cross-section of the marketplace, including beauty, books, fashion, food, department stores and luxury high-end brands, and were given scores out of 100 based on a set of ten guidelines used to rate tangible and emotional aspects of user experience. These guidelines included evaluations of online, mobile, tablet, instore and social performance, and assessed how well each retailer had united these channels to provide a seamless experience.
Burberry achieved its ‘excellent’ rating due to an obvious and dedicated investment into customer experience, particularly with regard to digital technologies. By incorporating the latest technology with a flawlessly consistent brand look and feel across all channels, as well as offering sophisticated personalisation options, Burberry fulfilled all of the central omnichannel initiatives as laid out by the report’s guidelines.
Waterstones and Debenhams both received ‘good’ overall ratings, awarded 65 and 62.5 respectively, while ‘average’ ratings were awarded to Topshop (60.9), Harrods (57.5), John Lewis (56.1), Marks & Spencer (55.7), Boots (44.2) and Next (42). The brand with the lowest score – 41.2 – was Ted Baker, which was rated ‘poor’.
Mastering next retail frontier
“Omnichannel is the next step for businesses, and is essentially about doing multichannel properly,” said Trenton Moss, founder and commercial director at Webcredible. “Retailers should now be looking to develop an overarching strategy that puts the customer first, creating a seamless experience no matter what technology they are engaging with.”
The report concluded that although the benefits of omnichannel are clear, there are challenges to implementing this approach.
“Retailers and brands should get going as soon as possible to remain competitive, but need not implement a comprehensive omnichannel approach immediately – small initiatives and campaigns are a good way to start,” added Moss. “It's all based on really knowing your customers, and reflecting what they truly want.”
The research was based on analysis of 10 UK High Street brands, including a series of mock purchases across the digital devices, instore visits and market investigation.
