Leger recently unveiled the 8th edition of the WOW study, which measures the in-store customer experience of more than 162 retailers in Ontario with more than 15,000 Ontarians. The WOW study presents a list of companies that offer the best customer experience, calculated according to 400 customers on 16 dimensions ranging from the quality of the product, the courtesy of employees to the in-store atmosphere.
New this year: Leger has created the digital WOW index where 116 transactional web sites in Canada are evaluated according to 22 components, allowing companies to identify the strengths and weaknesses at each step of the online shopping experience from the transaction through to the return process.
Here are some of the findings from the study that will help us demystify the journey of the online customer experience.
Everyone buys online
One could mistakenly believe that only young millennials buy online. The digital WOW study allows us to break this myth: 83% of Canadians have made an online purchase in the past year. This proportion is highest among those aged 35 to 44, with almost 91% of these respondents admitting to buying online. Since they are generally comfortable with the technology and have the means, they are more likely to shop online. This rate is 69%, or more than two out of three, among respondents aged 65 and over.
On a smartphone or a computer?
We could believe that almost all online purchases that are made on a website are done from a computer or tablet, but this is not the case! This is where the notion of “mobile-friendly” is important, as about 35% of respondents who bought online did so through a mobile app or smartphone. It is therefore essential for companies to offer a pleasant customer experience on both computer and mobile.
Retailers offering the best online experience are often Canadian companies
Interesting fact: among the top 10 companies with the best digital WOW Index 9 companies are Canadian. Instinctively, we are led to believe that transactional web sites would abolish borders and thus strengthen the local touch of Canadian businesses. Well, the five companies offering the best online customer experience are all Canadian companies: MEC, Clearly, Simons, Chapters Indigo and Lee Valley. This means that even online, we prefer the local touch!