The customer journey is ‘always-on’

Digital is now the first-stop shop on the connected customer journey.

Anew normal has emerged in the way customers shop, with the customer journey now a digitally-informed experience from the very start.

Digital first

Accelerated first by COVID and more recently by the rising cost of living, customers have integrated the digital-first behaviours they developed during the pandemic into their current shopping routines. As a result, digital is quickly becoming customers’ first destination in their customer journey, regardless of how they ultimately transact.

Whether end-to-end grocery buying, researching online to buy in-store, creating a list on their app (Woolworths’ functionality allows users to save lists of essentials to instantly add-to-cart) or boosting loyalty offers, we are seeing more customers than ever engaging weekly through online platforms. It’s a behaviour that’s clearly here to stay.

Research online and buy in-store

There’s a reason we keep talking about the omnichannel customer journey. With multiple touchpoints along the way, it’s a multi-sensory and multifunctional experience for customers. Online is a crucial early step in the shopping journey to reach customers when they are in discovery mode and looking for inspiration before transacting. We know that 52 per cent of customers research online and buy in-store within four days1.

New navigation capabilities, improved search and recipe filtering has seen a 16.7 per cent increase in shopping list users, and an 8.6 per cent increase in Catalogue users2. With constant development and improvement being undertaken in web and app functionality to create even greater convenience and more personalised experiences for shoppers, this can only be expected to increase further over time.

Digital keeps budgets in check

The efficiency and convenience digital offers customers is undiminished, but now digital engagement is also booming as an essential resource for customers seeking value and choice.

With rising living costs increasing pressure on family budgets, customers are being forced to make more considered choices about what makes it into the basket. One in four customers are shopping online to manage their budget and monitor the cost of their shop and items. Further to this, ‘Specials’ sections have seen a user base increase of +60 per cent in the last calendar year.

Shopping isn’t here nor there; it’s everywhere. Today, it’s always-on. Digital has evolved from a convenient option to an essential daily resource. From the sofa to the store, customers can now shop whenever and wherever they are, with digital the first of several destinations they will encounter along the connected customer journey. n