Third-annual study finds AI-powered connected retail strategies convert single-channel shoppers into higher-spending omnichannel shoppers
PALO ALTO, Calif. — Dec. 18, 2024 — SymphonyAI, a leader in predictive and generative AI SaaS products for the enterprise, today announced the results of its third annual grocery e-commerce study, which uncovers a significant 8% growth opportunity for retailers who use AI-based connected retail strategies.
SymphonyAI’s extensive shopper analysis, covering 72 million households and 1.3 billion transactions over a six-month period in 2024, identifies six trends that signal this growth potential. By using AI analysis to decode patterns in shopper behavior and channel preferences, the SymphonyAI study pinpoints immediate and clear areas for retailers to drive e-commerce revenue:
E-commerce Expansion: 81% of new online shoppers are first-time shoppers with that retailer, and online baskets average three times larger than in-store. Crafting strategies to attract and retain these shoppers online is critical as omnichannel customers spend 15% more than single channel shoppers.
- Seasonality Imperatives:Converting single-channel shoppers to omnichannel shoppers in the all-important fourth quarter boosts customer retention and drives revenue long after the holiday season. Fourth quarter in-store shoppers show more willingness to convert to online channel shopping than during other times of year, and retaining them post-holidays leads to a greater than 3% increase in e-commerce revenue.
- Convenience in Small Baskets:Small basket transactions are booming, with growth areas including alcoholic beverages and baby products. AI-based merchandising software can use product affinities to craft product recommendations and promotions that entice shoppers to purchase related items and increase basket size.
- Pack Size Optimization:Online shopper preferences for larger pack sizes vary by category, showing the need for tailored assortment strategies for increased sales. Smaller pack sizes are important options for shoppers in certain categories. For example, online shoppers prefer peanut butter in large package sizes online but small package sizes for jam and honey.
- Organic Growth:In-store organic product sales are growing at 5.2%, outperforming online organic sales growth rates of 1.6%. Retailers can entice store-only shoppers into the online channel with targeted organic product placements and offers.
- Category-Specific Channel Preferences: AI-based insights reveal meaningful granular channel preferences by category. In health, beauty, and snack categories, for example, e-commerce shoppers show greater brand loyalty than in-store shoppers, and retailers and CPGs can more closely collaborate to personalize the shopping experience and craft promotional offers in targeted categories to deepen loyalty and drive basket size growth.
“With a worldwide customer portfolio of hundreds of leading retailers using SymphonyAI connected retail products, we see first-hand the measurable impact of AI-based insights and actions to engage shoppers optimally across channels, boost basket size, and increase loyalty,” said Sonia Parekh, general manager of Customer-Centric Retailing for SymphonyAI. “The newest research from our in-house retail experts reveals the advantages of using AI insights to increase e-commerce revenue, both in the short-term and longer term. They apply SymphonyAI connected retail with surgical precision to create powerful positive business impact.”
SymphonyAI’s Connected Retail Platform and product portfolio gives retailers and their CPG partners rapid, AI-driven paths to act on the ecommerce growth opportunities identified by the research. With SymphonyAI connected retail products, retailers gain a seamless flow of data and insights that empower optimized decision-making across every aspect of retail operations—from the supply chain to the store shelf. SymphonyAI connected retail breaks down operational silos, enabling retailers to make swift, confident decisions without blind spots. Using a source-agnostic data onboarding framework, SymphonyAI connected retail delivers AI-driven insights across key areas including customer behaviour, sales, promotions, assortment, inventory, supply chain, and real-time shelf and store conditions, empowering retailers to enhance efficiency and profitability at every level.
With SymphonyAI connected retail, retailers can successfully increase shopper engagement, remove silos, and drive omnichannel growth, with capabilities including:
- SymphonyAI Sales & Customer suite, which enables retailers to target and tailor retail strategies to drive ecommerce growth by attracting existing single-channel shoppers to become omnichannel shoppers as well as attract new shoppers to the online channel.
- SymphonyAI integrated Sales & Customer suite with personalized marketing so retailers can not only understand the nuanced behaviors of customers during peak seasons but also implement targeted strategies that lead to increased loyalty and sales year-round. Personalized Marketing lets retailers surgically target specific shoppers based on granular online shopper insights.
- SymphonyAI Assortment & Space suite, so retailers can optimize and rationalize retail assortments based on customer insights, localization, and accurate understanding of macro- and micro-space requirements down to the store level.
- SymphonyAI Price & Promotion with Personalized Marketing to connect customer insights with defined marketing strategies to drive more category growth, both online and in-store.
For additional insights on the research findings, please view the on-demand webinar, ”Winning the 8% Grocery eCommerce Opportunity” at https://www.symphonyai.com/resources/webinar/retail-cpg/grocery-e-commerce/
About SymphonyAI
SymphonyAI is a leading enterprise AI SaaS company for digital transformation across the most critical and resilient growth verticals, including retail, consumer packaged goods, finance, manufacturing, media, and IT/enterprise service management. SymphonyAI verticals have many leading enterprises as clients. Since its founding in 2017, SymphonyAI has grown rapidly to 3,000 talented leaders, data scientists, and other professionals. SymphonyAI, 2024 Microsoft Partner of the Year for Business Transformation – AI Innovation, is a SAIGroup company, backed by a $1 billion commitment from successful entrepreneur and philanthropist Dr. Romesh Wadhwani. Learn more at www.symphonyai.com.
Media Contact
Sarah Armstrong, Treble PR for SymphonyAI
