New survey results from NCR Corp. and BuzzBack Market Research indicate Canadian shoppers want more self-service in retail.
According to an NCR news release, nearly 40 percent of Canadians surveyed say they would welcome a self-service kiosk in retail stores to help them locate products, as opposed to having to track down a staff member. Additional survey results indicate Canadians are using more cash, researching products on the Internet more frequently and shopping multiple retailers to find the best price, all of which is part of a broader trend of shoppers adjusting to an uncertain economy, NCR says.
Additionally, 35 percent of Canadians say their likelihood to use self-service has increased over the past year. That consumer desire for self-service is a trend retailers should take advantage of, NCR says:
Retailers who adopt a broader range of self-service technology improve service and enhance the customer experience by redeploying staff in areas of their store where customers need more personal attention. This delivers great cost savings by allowing retailers to invest in the areas that matter most to the customer. For example, self-checkout systems decrease customer queue time by 40 percent.
The survey of more than 500 Canadian respondents is part of NCR's larger 2009 self-service study, which assessed 8,400 consumers around the world and found that 85 percent prefer to shop with a retailer that offers the ability to interact via the online, mobile and self-service channels versus one that does not.
