Technologies and trends shaping a 'buy anywhere' future
Over the past 18 months, since the onset of COVID-19, telecom retail has seen a rapid technological evolution that has changed customer expectations and buying habits permanently. Features that were previously a nice-to-have are now demanded by customers, who expect seamlessness, convenience, and safety to be baked into their purchasing journey. Recent North America-wide research reveals sector insights and predictions to help guide telecom retail professionals' strategy.
02 Nov 2021
Technologies and trends shaping a 'buy anywhere' future
Over the past 18 months, since the onset of COVID-19, telecom retail has seen a rapid technological evolution that has changed customer expectations and buying habits permanently. Features that were previously a nice-to-have are now demanded by customers, who expect seamlessness, convenience, and safety to be baked into their purchasing journey. Recent North America-wide research reveals sector insights and predictions to help guide telecom retail professionals' strategy.
iQmetrix conducted a survey of telecom retail professionals across North America to gain insights into these trends and predictions for what’s to come. The results of the iQmetrix 2021 Trends in Telecom Retail survey were extremely revealing. We learned that today’s telecom retail operator is agile and responsive; robust and optimistic; innovative and adaptable. We discovered that the pandemic radically changed the retail landscape—temporarily for the worse, but arguably for the better in the long term.
Plans that were already in the pipeline for buy/reserve online pick up in-store (BOPIS/ROPIS), curbside pickup, store appointments, and digital queue management were iterated virtually overnight, creating an omnichannel retail experience that was both convenient and safe for the customer. For more than 80% of our respondents, omnichannel strategies were cited as important to their operations—with more than half choosing “extremely important.” And more than two-thirds said the pandemic accelerated their omnichannel plans, with nearly half describing this as “rapid.”
Post-lockdown, customers expect this seamless purchasing journey to be the new normal. Retailers are responding to this expectation, with two-thirds of respondents saying they will keep their omnichannel solutions in place.
Investing in new strategies
It is inarguable that multi-channel purchasing strategies are essential to every retail vertical, and telecom is no exception. As sophisticated retailers get their omnichannel flows established, they are freed up to explore new ways to sell anywhere and are investing heavily in new strategies.
When asked how they planned to improve the online shopping experience, a whopping 87% said that they have increased, or plan to increase, investment in social media strategies. This was followed by investment in improving e-commerce flows, at over 83%, followed by BOPIS/ROPIS at nearly 82%.
In a question on the role of e-commerce over the next five years, respondents most often predicted growth in BOPIS/ROPIS, an increase in online/e-commerce purchasing in general, and growth in AI/machine learning and data analytics to improve customer personalization. These results align closely with what telecom clients are telling us—particularly the bigger players, who are investing heavily in these areas.
Future retail channels
Looking at likely purchasing channels in the next five years, the top answer selected by 88% of respondents was a “greater focus on customer loyalty, subscription, and rewards programs to upsell and increase consumer spend.” While this area is seeing huge growth in retail generally, the North American telecom sector has a way to catch up to other verticals. Where it will likely play out is in the growth of smart home and Internet-of-Things-connected devices, which could result in more bundling and upselling. Taking smart devices a step further, it’s possible our phones themselves will tell us when it’s time for an upgrade, and automatically order the latest device. Essentially, a phone could simply replace itself.
In terms of future channels, at nearly 83% of respondents, the second most popular answer was “increased focus on brand channel integration, creating greater customer visibility into inventory availability.” The seamless integration of multiple retail channels and inventory visibility is foundational to enabling all those e-commerce and omnichannel strategies—it’s not possible to effectively serve the customer without that transparency.
Growth in other channels such as experiential stores, social and search platforms, mobile kiosks, pop-up stores, and mobile trucks was also seen as “likely” by most respondents, to varying degrees. One wireless retailer respondent said, “We’re figuring out how to start our customer journey on Facebook, and through videos on social, which takes them to the e-commerce site. With search and social, it’s less about the actual purchasing, and more about the beginning of the customer journey.”
A buy-anywhere reality
Today, retailers are exploring how they can bring products to customers via other channels. One key trend resurgence in telecom retail is pop-up stores and kiosks at arenas, events, street corners, malls, and building lobbies. This trend was curtailed by the pandemic and, with the anticipated rush of event participation as we gather once again, it is ripe for exploration. Further, the rollout of 5G supports the technology needed to improve this retail experience, compared with past iterations.
More than anything else, both our survey research and daily conversations with clients show that the future of telecom retail is in meeting the customer where they are. Retail operators are investing in innovative ways to sell anywhere, so that their customers can buy anywhere. In-store, online, via mobile, via social, via search, at big-box store kiosks, from mobile trucks, in pop-up stores, and anywhere else.
iQmetrix conducted a survey of telecom retail professionals across North America to gain insights into these trends and predictions for what’s to come. The results of the iQmetrix 2021 Trends in Telecom Retail survey were extremely revealing. We learned that today’s telecom retail operator is agile and responsive; robust and optimistic; innovative and adaptable. We discovered that the pandemic radically changed the retail landscape—temporarily for the worse, but arguably for the better in the long term.
Plans that were already in the pipeline for buy/reserve online pick up in-store (BOPIS/ROPIS), curbside pickup, store appointments, and digital queue management were iterated virtually overnight, creating an omnichannel retail experience that was both convenient and safe for the customer. For more than 80% of our respondents, omnichannel strategies were cited as important to their operations—with more than half choosing “extremely important.” And more than two-thirds said the pandemic accelerated their omnichannel plans, with nearly half describing this as “rapid.”
Post-lockdown, customers expect this seamless purchasing journey to be the new normal. Retailers are responding to this expectation, with two-thirds of respondents saying they will keep their omnichannel solutions in place.
Investing in new strategies
It is inarguable that multi-channel purchasing strategies are essential to every retail vertical, and telecom is no exception. As sophisticated retailers get their omnichannel flows established, they are freed up to explore new ways to sell anywhere and are investing heavily in new strategies.
When asked how they planned to improve the online shopping experience, a whopping 87% said that they have increased, or plan to increase, investment in social media strategies. This was followed by investment in improving e-commerce flows, at over 83%, followed by BOPIS/ROPIS at nearly 82%.
In a question on the role of e-commerce over the next five years, respondents most often predicted growth in BOPIS/ROPIS, an increase in online/e-commerce purchasing in general, and growth in AI/machine learning and data analytics to improve customer personalization. These results align closely with what telecom clients are telling us—particularly the bigger players, who are investing heavily in these areas.
Future retail channels
Looking at likely purchasing channels in the next five years, the top answer selected by 88% of respondents was a “greater focus on customer loyalty, subscription, and rewards programs to upsell and increase consumer spend.” While this area is seeing huge growth in retail generally, the North American telecom sector has a way to catch up to other verticals. Where it will likely play out is in the growth of smart home and Internet-of-Things-connected devices, which could result in more bundling and upselling. Taking smart devices a step further, it’s possible our phones themselves will tell us when it’s time for an upgrade, and automatically order the latest device. Essentially, a phone could simply replace itself.
In terms of future channels, at nearly 83% of respondents, the second most popular answer was “increased focus on brand channel integration, creating greater customer visibility into inventory availability.” The seamless integration of multiple retail channels and inventory visibility is foundational to enabling all those e-commerce and omnichannel strategies—it’s not possible to effectively serve the customer without that transparency.
Growth in other channels such as experiential stores, social and search platforms, mobile kiosks, pop-up stores, and mobile trucks was also seen as “likely” by most respondents, to varying degrees. One wireless retailer respondent said, “We’re figuring out how to start our customer journey on Facebook, and through videos on social, which takes them to the e-commerce site. With search and social, it’s less about the actual purchasing, and more about the beginning of the customer journey.”
A buy-anywhere reality
Today, retailers are exploring how they can bring products to customers via other channels. One key trend resurgence in telecom retail is pop-up stores and kiosks at arenas, events, street corners, malls, and building lobbies. This trend was curtailed by the pandemic and, with the anticipated rush of event participation as we gather once again, it is ripe for exploration. Further, the rollout of 5G supports the technology needed to improve this retail experience, compared with past iterations.
More than anything else, both our survey research and daily conversations with clients show that the future of telecom retail is in meeting the customer where they are. Retail operators are investing in innovative ways to sell anywhere, so that their customers can buy anywhere. In-store, online, via mobile, via social, via search, at big-box store kiosks, from mobile trucks, in pop-up stores, and anywhere else.
