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A new survey conducted by chat commerce and business messaging platform, Clickatell reveals that majority of consumers now prefer a more personalised retail interaction and service-delivery experience with retail companies.

The study dubbed Chat Commerce Trends Report: Retail Edition sheds light on how today’s consumers prefer to communicate and make purchases with retail companies through mobile and chat messaging conversations.

The report, which fielded responses from more than 1,000 participants, found that 95% of customers now make retail purchases on their smartphones and 78% of consumers want to use mobile messaging with retail companies for convenience.

This shows some level of congruence with current consumer preferences for online retail transactions, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic struck stimulating the growth of digital shopping trends.

To better understand how consumers communicate with retail brands, Clickatell’s new research found considerable interest in personalized and convenient commerce experiences through mobile messaging conversations.

As global retailers head into the holiday season and shift strategies to handle changing consumer shopping habits, brands are examining how rich, mobile-first commerce experiences can help attract customer loyalty.

The Chat Commerce Trends Report: Retail Edition found that 69% of participants want to receive order updates via mobile message, 52% would like to use mobile messaging to track loyalty benefits or inquire about loyalty programs and 47% would like to use mobile messaging to connect with a customer service agent.

Younger generations have the highest interest in using mobile messaging with a retail brand, specifically 92% of Gen Z and 95% of Millennials.

The report also highlights a distinct opportunity to offer personalized deals and promotions through mobile channels, as consumers continue to grow cautious of high costs during this upcoming holiday season.

In fact, 51% of consumers want access to special offers via mobile messaging and 81% of consumers are more likely to purchase an item that is promoted through an SMS link than through an email.

Brands have the opportunity to allow consumers to browse, shop, access personalized deals and track orders all on their mobile devices through a value-rich, mobile-first commerce experience.

Other key findings of the survey include the view that younger generations tend to be mobile-first in nature. 77% of Millennials and Gen Z want to be able to track delivery through personalized mobile messaging, according to the study.

It also notes that 86% of consumers are interested in a personalized experience with a retail company, especially millennials (92%) and Gen Z (90%).

Similarly, the report reveals that consumers are eager to track packages and orders. 48% of consumers want to receive shipping and order updates via mobile messaging, which is higher than the desire to receive personalized promotions (13%), information about a product (10%) or connect with a live agent (10%).

Three-quarters (75%) of consumers also want to track a delivery through a personalized mobile messaging link and 69% of consumers would like to receive order updates via mobile messaging channels.

The study further reveals the demand for loyalty programs and deals via mobile, as 51% of consumers want access to special offers via personalized mobile messaging, and 46% of consumers want to receive personalized promotions for things like last-minute deals or alerts when new offerings or products become available

Further to these, 52% of consumers would like the ability to track and redeem loyalty benefits or ask about loyalty programs through mobile channels

Clickatell’s study also reveals that mobile payment options are on the rise, as consumers are most likely to enter credit card details (61%) or use PayPal (57%) to make a retail purchase on their smartphone. Apple Pay is also increasingly popular, as 23% prefer this method.

Essentially, the majority of consumers, according to the study, make retail purchases on their smartphones and 27% would make a payment via a secure payments link.

“The results indicate an opportunity for retail companies to engage with consumers this holiday season through their preferred messaging channels, considering a majority of consumers want to communicate with brands across the entire shopping lifecycle,” said Pieter de Villiers, CEO and Co-Founder of Clickatell.

“For retail brands, the next wave of commerce is building relationships with consumers in the same way they communicate with friends or family every day: on their mobile phones. At Clickatell, we’re enabling retail brands to enhance and personalize customer engagement through mobile channels to create this rich commerce experience.”