The online survey, conducted in January 2018, focuses on three critical areas: what merchants are doing today to improve the checkout experience; how checkout impacts loyalty; and retailers’ own perceptions on the state of their industry.
The future looks bright
The study finds that many retail leaders are optimistic about the state of the industry, this despite Amazon’s growing market share and news of store closings in 2017.
Retailers are most optimistic when it comes to their own businesses, with 3 in 4 merchants viewing the state of their business as very healthy. Merchants with loyalty programs rate their business health even higher than average (81%).
The shopping experience is viewed as the key to sustaining a healthy retail sector. According to the survey, 4 in 10 decision makers identify credit/financing options as influential in sustaining sector health.
The checkout experience – a major investment area
Nearly all merchants (98%) plan to invest in the checkout experience in 2018 - and specifically on credit applications and financing within checkout. The most popular areas of investment are mobile app technology, the checkout experience and financing options. In spite of the hype, artificial intelligence is one of the least popular areas of investments. Two key insights stand out from the survey:
On average, nearly 30% of goods and services are paid for using retail financing.
Improving the credit application process, increasing financing options, and improving mobile checkout are the top 3 areas in which merchants plan on focusing their checkout investments.
Extra financing options to drive customer loyalty
Loyalty programs seem to make retailers optimistic. Eight in 10 merchants offer a loyalty program, and those that offer a loyalty program rate the health of their business more highly than those that do not.
How retailers measure the efficiency of their loyalty programs, however, may seem a bit biased. In fact, the top method used to measure loyalty (64%) is to look at the program membership’s numbers. This is followed closely (62%) by the re-purchase ratio.
Loyalty is not only about costs, however, and many merchants look at other options, mainly when it comes to payments, to drive loyalty sales:
While monetary incentives are still the top drivers of loyalty, offering multiple financing / credit options (36%), having a high rate of credit approvals (35%), and shortening the checkout experience (36%) are also viewed as influential in building customer loyalty.
Six in 10 (63%) retailers surveyed believe that financing declines at checkout have a negative impact on customer loyalty. Respondents state that credit declines make customers feel offended or embarrassed, causing them to abandon their purchase and go elsewhere.
Vyze is a leading cloud-based financing technology company for retailers. By combining technology, a comprehensive lending supply, and support under one roof, Vyze delivers businesses more satisfying financing experiences for their customers, wherever and whenever they shop.
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