UK businesses think the future of retail is AR and VR experiences, but shoppers aren’t so sure

Storyblok has released a survey of 6,000 consumers and 500 business leaders at medium sized e-commerce businesses across Europe and the US on the website features that influence their purchasing decisions. 

The research revealed a divide in what businesses think consumers want and the website experience they actually demand. 

The largest divergence in opinion was in relation to chatbots. 70% of UK businesses said chatbots enhanced the customer experience - only 22% of consumers said they saw a benefit.

When asked what the most important future trends were in marketing for enhancing the consumer experience, 26% of UK businesses ranked AR and VR as the most important.

However, consumers were more sceptical with only 32% agreeing it would encourage them to make a purchase, with 24% saying they ‘didn’t know’. Americans were much more enthusiastic with 57% of consumers saying it would help them make a purchasing decision. 

Other important trends cited by business leaders were, personalisation (21%), AI generated content (24%), and automation (17%).

Dominik Angerer, CEO and Co-Founder at Storyblok, says: “There’s a lot of enthusiasm from businesses for more website features, but this is not shared by consumers - at least not yet.”

“It's important for businesses to continually ask themselves if the features they add to their websites really do enhance the customer experience. More is not always better, and what our research clearly shows is that businesses cannot lose sight of the fundamentals of good design, clear navigation, and fast loading speeds.” 

When asked what the three most important factors are in the online experience, 60% of consumers said ease of navigation, 42% said simple design and 41% said visual appeal.

In contrast, only 28% of businesses cited improving the design of their website as a priority, and 36% said they would add more features.

45% of businesses would add more payment options, but this was less of an issue for consumers with only 23% citing limited payment options as a reason to abandon a purchase.  

Consumers and businesses agree that fast loading speeds are critical.

42% of consumers said they decide whether to stay on or leave a website within ten seconds - 24% within five seconds. 46% of businesses said improving their website loading time was a top priority.