Mind The Knowledge Gap: Retailers miss out on £15bn per year due to poor advice instore

Brands across some of the top retail categories potentially missed out on close to £15bn in instore revenue in the past year, due to poor in-person advice.

That’s according to new research commissioned by field marketing and retail experience agency, Gekko.

The study of 2,000 consumers, conducted by OnePoll, looked at what influences shoppers in making a ‘considered purchase’ – purchases that are made with significant financial or emotional thought.

Instore advice gap

The research revealed one in 10 shoppers said they had walked out of a shop due to poor advice relating to a considered purchase they were definitely going to make.

This equates to some £15bn in revenue overall over the past year.

The experiences vary across categories and age groups. Gekko surveyed experiences across several key retail categories including: Consumer electronics, homeware, baby & child, gaming, home improvement, clothing & apparel.

Overall 59.8% said they had received ‘excellent or good advice in store’, highlighting the benefit of human interaction and face to face sales.

However, £15bn could be a drop in the ocean of additional revenues that could be accrued with better advice.

Around 37% of shoppers in the consumer electronics category revealed they would be prepared to spend more if they received excellent and knowledgeable in store advice, indicating a golden opportunity for retailers.

This compared with 30% of shoppers in the home improvement category and 27% in homeware/ home furnishings and 21% in clothing and apparel.

According to the survey, 50% of Brits made a ‘considered purchase’ in DIY during the pandemic, more than in any other category.

However only one in five (21%) rated the advice they had as ‘excellent’ in making the purchase.

This was compared to 32% for baby and child, 31% for gaming and 24% for consumer electronics. Meanwhile one in 4 DIY shoppers (25%) were so disappointed by the advice they were put off making an expensive purchase altogether, with 11% pulling the plug on the purchase and walking out of the store.

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