Beyond Its CX Technology and Shopping Options, Amazon's Hold on Consumers' Emotions, Not Just Wallets, Matters Most

Beyond Its CX Technology and Shopping Options, Amazon's Hold on Consumers' Emotions, Not Just Wallets, Matters Most

This IDC Perspective examines a survey of 2,062 shoppers regarding their recent holiday shopping experience to develop recommendations for retailers preparing customer experience (CX) strategies for the 2018 holiday shopping season. As revealed by the IDC Retail Insights survey, Amazon's hold on shoppers' wallets and shopping carts runs deep, supported by unexpected advantages in being the leader in satisfying 2017 holiday gift givers' emotional needs — engendering joy in finding the right gift and confidence in being treated fairly and squarely. "That singular finding is more profound than what our search reveals about Amazon's unsurpassed reach," said Greg Girard, program director, IDC Retail Insights' Worldwide Retail Intelligent Product Merchandising and Marketing Strategies Service, who led the survey. "Amazon ranks as one of the top 3 retailers shopped among 61% of the households we surveyed, far ahead of the next most frequently shopped national omni-channel retailers — Walmart, Target, Kohl's, and Macy's," he added. This groundbreaking research also revealed that while stores account for 80–95% of all purchases, shoppers allocate only 46% of their "shopping time" to stores.This research points to a number of strategies for outflanking shoppers' emotional connection to Amazon. "Top performers engendering joy employ quite different business strategies to reach shoppers in these emotional dimensions. Amazon offers massive breadth and depth, TJX and Ross Stores win with the treasure hunt for deals, Nordstrom succeeds with service and curated assortments, and Best Buy offers well-curated assortments and well-trained associates," Girard added.

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