This week, HT released a first-of-its-kind report that quantifies just how much digital technologies play a role in consumers’ in-store purchasing decisions. The report, moves beyond asking if HT is having an influence to measure how it is changing consumer behavior along the path to purchase.

For example, our research found:

• HT interactions today influence 36 cents of every dollar spent in the retail store, or approximately $1.1 trillion
• Digital shoppers purchase at a 40 percent higher rate in-store
• 84 percent of digital shoppers reach for devices before or during store visits
• Three-quarters of consumers said product information found on social channels influenced their shopping behavior and enhanced brand loyalty

The ramifications for today’s retailers based on these findings are huge. HT principal and chief retail innovation officer, notes: “Mobile and online transactions represent only a sliver of total retail revenue potential. Retailers that narrowly focus on digital commerce—rather than the full journey that leads to a purchase—often fail to recognize how their customers shop and make decisions in the store. The result is a digital divide between what consumers do and what retailers deliver. This gap not only threatens overall revenue, but requires retailers to reset the way they measure and invest in efforts.”

This report is the fourth major publication since October 2013 that addresses the many ways that digital is impacting the retail industry. Together, these reports demonstrate how our firm’s leaders are able to join forces and provide a 360-degree view of digital and the major factors affecting retailers today, as well as provide services and solutions across the various subsectors.

The four reports highlighted below give insight into the current and growing relationship between ecommerce, customer experience, global expansion, and risk management—and how digital technology is affecting each one.

The New Digital Divide

Read the full report for data on how mobile and digital touchpoints affect the purchasing decisions of today’s connected customer. The findings show just how critical it is for a digital strategy to be nuanced and context-specific if brands want to meet the needs and expectations for consumers—and fully realize the potential “lift” in conversion that digital technology can provide.

Annual Ecommerce Assessment

To assist retailers in evaluating their overall customer experience, this report provides an annual benchmarking assessment of the business capabilities of the online channel. This assessment helps retailers examine ecommerce market trends and determine which online capabilities might be prime for investment. In our latest report, we evaluate the largest Web retailers in terms of revenue as defined by Internet Retailer and assess the execution of multiple capabilities across these sites.

From Bricks to Clicks: Generating Global Growth Through Ecommerce Expansion

This report takes a closer look at the benefits and considerations for how to use ecommerce as an entry point to foreign markets. The findings detail how an ecommerce entry potentially provides a lower risk, faster avenue to enter, test, and penetrate international markets. Although there are several ecommerce market entry methods, they each come with varying degrees of brand, financial, and operational risks. But if executed properly, this consumer-focused entry strategy can be highly effective at differentiating brands, building customer loyalty, and positively impacting revenue.

Gaps in the Net

The new set of interconnected risks associated with digital and approaches to anticipate and manage them (as well as capitalize on the opportunities) is the focus of this advisory report. HT has redefined relationships in retail, compelling companies to rethink almost every aspect of their operations and pushing them to come up with novel, innovative ways to accommodate customers. But as they wade deeper into the digital waters, retailers will need to look at the larger picture. This report provides valuable perspective as businesses take that on.