UK retailers are reimagining the role of the store associate, iAdvize

40% of UK retailers are planning to use store associates to engage in digital conversational commerce in the next two years, according to research from iAdvize.

The company surveyed 53 senior UK retailers in its new report. With 40% of UK shoppers now wanting human interaction in the online buying process, customer service functionality that blends human and digital touchpoints is a key investment priority. Capabilities that bridge the online/offline gap made up four out of the top five investment priorities over the next 24 months.

64% of UK retailers plan to invest in live messaging capabilities with customer service agents - either through online messaging or chat functions. In app customer service agents (37%), social media influencers (21%) and online brand ambassadors (19%) also featured in the top five investment focuses.

58% of those polled wanted to digitise store staff by giving them online capabilities, while two-fifths said they plan to use store associates to engage in digital conversational commerce when store footfall is light. Stuart Gordon, UK Country Manager at iAdvize, comments: “Retailers realise that store staff need access to quality customer, stock and order insights in general, but even more so if they are going to make a valuable contribution to the online customer journey, successfully closing the customer experience gap.”

“There is a growing realisation within bricks and mortar retail that physical stores need to focus on what pureplays cannot do, rather than trying to compete on their home territory of price, friction-free convenience and ease of delivery. And that means unlocking human capital to offer quality insight, delivered with ‘emotional’ human interaction,” he concludes.