Summary

From shopping and buying to owning and using products, consumers’ experiences largely determine the success of both retailers and brands. By voting with their feet, wallets, and social media, consumers reward companies that make their lives easy, risk-free, and pleasurable. As proof, you can witness the extraordinary success of Amazon, Zappos, Starbucks, and others. However, as the failures of Kmart, Best Buy, Dell, Nokia, and many more illustrate, consumers also penalize with a vengeance companies that fail to meet their expectations.

Given the importance of the topic, this report provides an end-to-end view of consumers’ experience, from discovery to shopping and buying to post-purchase activities such as service and support. Data from a recent immr survey (co-sponsored by GigaOM Research) of U.S. smartphone owners was used to answer questions relating to:

Shopping experiences in brick-and-mortar stores: Relatively few (one in four) consumers are happy with their shopping experiences in brick-and-mortar stores. As an online retailer, Amazon leads on this important metric by a 2-to-1 margin.
Satisfaction with specific shopping experiences: From discovering to shopping to buying and using products and services, consumers reveal substantial opportunities to improve the overall shopping experience. Opportunities also exist in a number of special cases, including shopping for gifts, services, and events and entertainment. The latter two are especially important for local businesses.
Mobile’s impact on the shopping experience: Mobile apps significantly improve consumers’ experiences. Individuals who use a mobile app for a specific shopping experience, such as finding or comparing products, are much happier with their shopping experience than non-users.

Recommendations are presented for retailers and brands to fill these voids and help consumers along the shopping journey.

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