Americans like to buy online, but also expect in-store experiences, SAP study says

** WALLDORF ** — SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today announced that seven out of 10 U.S. consumers purchase fashion products online but miss some of the experiences traditional brick-and-mortar retailers provide, such as fitting rooms.

These are some of the findings of SAP’s recent Consumer Propensity Study that polled 1,000 American consumers about their attitudes toward online shopping experiences.

“The survey indicates that shoppers like the convenience of online shopping, but higher than expected shipping costs or a clunky return process quickly changes that sentiment,” said Chris Hauca, head of Strategy, SAP Commerce Cloud, SAP. “Retailers should consider how they can eliminate unpleasant surprises to the consumer. To ensure experiences are positive and last beyond the purchase, brands need to connect customer-facing processes with the back-end supply chain.”

Additional insights from the survey that could help to avoid shopping cart abandonment and drive additional purchases include:

• Providing free shipping: U.S. consumers most frequently abandon their online shopping carts due to shipping costs (62 percent).
• Providing more options to consumers so they can seamlessly switch between digital and physical channels: One in three consumers believes the online shopping experience would be improved by having a physical store to try or test products before purchasing them.
• Offering more information to consumers to help them make informed choices: 47 percent of U.S. consumers surveyed believe online shopping experiences would be improved by comparison tools that analyze price and specification differences between similar products. According to the survey, 40 percent of respondents already use the shopping cart as a way to compare prices with other Web sites and brands.

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