Zebra Survey Finds Two-Thirds of Retail Store Associates Believe They Can Provide Better Customer Service with Tablets
December 11 2018 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
Less than 15 Percent of Shoppers Completely
Trust Retailers to Protect Personal Data
Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: ZBRA), an innovator
at the edge of the enterprise with solutions and
partners that enable businesses to gain a performance
edge, today revealed the results of its 11th annual Global
Shopper Study, analyzing the attitudes, opinions, and expectations
of shoppers, retail associates and retail decision makers. The
results show that two-thirds (66 percent) of surveyed associates
believe that if they are equipped with tablets, they could provide
better customer service and improve the shopping experience.
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Zebra Technologies revealed the results
of its 11th annual Global Shopper Study. (Graphic: Business
Wire)
Fifty-five percent of surveyed retail store associates agree
that their company is understaffed, and nearly one-half (49
percent) feel overworked. Store associates cite frustration with
their inability to assist customers as 42 percent find they have
little time to help shoppers because of pressure to get other tasks
completed. Another 28 percent claim that it’s difficult to get
information to help shoppers. Most surveyed retail decision makers
(83 percent) and store associates (74 percent) concur that shoppers
can have a better experience with technology-equipped sales
associates.
Meanwhile, only 13 percent of surveyed shoppers completely trust
retailers to protect their personal data, the lowest level of trust
among 10 different industries. Seventy-three percent of surveyed
shoppers prefer flexibility to control how their personal
information is used.
“Our study reveals shopper expectations are on the rise,” said
Jeff Schmitz, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer,
Zebra Technologies. “While retailers are addressing fulfillment
challenges, they also need to provide a more trusted, personalized
shopping experience that gives customers what they want, when,
where, and how they want it.”
The study also identified diverging expectations on the impact
of automation between retailers and store associates. Nearly 80
percent of retail decision makers – compared to 49 percent of store
associates – agree that staff checkout areas are becoming less
necessary due to new technologies that can automate checkout. Also,
more than one-half of retail decision makers (52 percent) are
converting point-of-sale (POS) space to self-checkout, and 62
percent are transforming it for online order pickup.
More than one-half of shoppers (51 percent) believe they are
better connected with their smartphones than store associates.
Retailers are investing in edge technologies to combat this
gap. Nearly 60 percent of retailers plan to increase their
spend on handheld mobile computers by more than six percent, and
more than one-in-five retailers (21 percent) plan to spend greater
than 10 percent on rugged tablets over the next three years.
KEY REGIONAL FINDINGS
Asia-Pacific
- Sixty-two percent of retail associates
view their employer more positively if provided with a mobile
device for work-related activities.
- Nearly half (49 percent) of retail
associates say that mobile point of sale (mPOS) devices help them
do their job better.
Europe and the Middle East
- Seventy-four percent of decision makers
agree that increased e-commerce is driving more interest in
fulfillment solutions and warehouse investments.
- More than three-quarters (76 percent)
of retail decision makers agree that accepting and/or managing
returns of online orders is a significant challenge.
Latin America
- Both shoppers (59 percent) and store
associates (67 percent) believe that shoppers are better connected
to consumer information than store associates.
- Ninety-nine percent of retail IT
decision-makers believe they need better inventory management tools
to ensure accuracy.
North America
- Eleven percent of shoppers completely
trust retailers to protect their personal data, the lowest level of
trust in any surveyed vertical industry, including healthcare,
financial institutions and technology companies.
- Nearly seven in 10 store associates (68
percent) reported that electronic shelf-labels would have a
positive impact on the customer experience, and 54 percent of
surveyed shoppers are likely to read them.
SURVEY BACKGROUND AND METHODOLOGY
Zebra’s 11th annual Global Shopper Study included approximately
4,725 shoppers, 1,225 retail associates and 430 decision makers
from North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, Europe and the
Middle East who were interviewed in October - November 2018 by
Qualtrics.
ABOUT ZEBRA
Zebra (NASDAQ: ZBRA) empowers the front line of business in
retail/ecommerce, manufacturing, transportation and logistics,
healthcare and other industries to achieve a performance edge. With
more than 10,000 partners across 100 countries, we deliver
industry-tailored, end-to-end solutions that intelligently connect
people, assets and data to help our customers make
business-critical decisions. Our market-leading solutions elevate
the shopping experience, track and manage inventory as well as
improve supply chain efficiency and patient care. Ranked on Forbes’
list of America’s Best Employers for the last three years, Zebra
helps our customers capture their edge. For more information, visit
www.zebra.com or sign up for our news alerts. Follow us on
LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181211005047/en/
Media Contact:Bill AbelsonZebra
Technologies+1-631-738-4751bill.abelson@zebra.comIndustry
Analyst Contact:Kasia FahmyZebra
Technologies+1-224-306-8654k.fahmy@zebra.com
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