Insights in omnichannel maturity of fashion retailers
Omnichannel experiences are more and more in demand, as consumers come to expect to be able to approach stores through a variety of channels – sometimes in one shopping journey. In a recent analysis, Kurt Salmon explores in how far fashion retailers are omnichannel mature in the UK, France and Germany. The key finding is that UK retailers are considerably more advanced along their own omnichannel journeys than Germany or France.
Omnichannel maturity is becoming an ever more important aspect of commerce, particularly in the retail world where consumers expect to be able to access product information through a wide range of channels. To identify the omnichannel maturity of fashion retailers in the 3 largest EU countries, Kurt Salmon, in its ‘Omni Channel Fashion Survey 2015’, looked at the practices of 100+ retailers in UK, Germany and France.
Weighting the market
To quantify how the different regional markets faired in terms of their omnichannel maturity, the consulting firm weighted four different sub-dimensions: Online Excellence, Mobile Excellence, Social Media Excellence and Cross-Channel Excellence. The dimensions are made up of 70 different quantified items, in the categories of Customer experience, Merchandising, Store Operations and Supply Chain. Online, mobile and social have been assessed as a prerequisite for omnichannel activity by the consultancy, but are given lower importance then Cross-Channel elements in the total omnichannel score.
UK on top
Using the defined weightings, Kurt Salmon finds that the overall omnichannel maturity score in the UK is the highest, at 70%, followed by France at 53% and Germany at 52%. The UK particularly scores high on Online Excellence and Mobile Excellence, at 85% and 80% respectively. In France, the Online Excellence Score stands at 62%, slightly below the 68% in Germany, however the Social Media Excellence Score is 59%, 4% higher than that of Germany. This shows that German retailers are more advanced than their French counterparts in ‘technical’ dimensions (Online, Mobile). The closest score across all three regions is found in Cross-Channel area, where the UK scores 61%, France 52% and Germany 44%.
Fashion retailer typology
The researchers classify the UK fashion retailers in 5 different types. Verticals, fashion brands that distribute 100% via owned or franchised stores or through fully controlled store-in-store models, are in the best position with a score of 71%, while the average across all three countries stands at 61%. Global Brands, fashion brands that partially or fully distribute via third party stores, have the strongest Cross-Channel Excellence at 64%, as well as a 17% higher score than the average across all three countries. Multi-Brand Retailers have the second best overall score at 70%, compared to the average of 62% of the three countries. Grocery stores selling fashion have a very good omnichannel maturity in the UK at 67%, compared to the average across the three countries at 44%. Pure Play e-commerce retailers in the UK have the strongest Mobile Excellence on offer, as well as strong Social Excellence, their Cross-Channel offering is, however, relatively weak.
