Truth: Denmark takes the Nordic crown
With eight companies in the Nordic top ten, Denmark is home to the most mature omnichannel brands.
Across the 5 phases of the buyer’s journey that we have analysed, Danish retailers and brands have a total, average score of 47 out of 100.
Norway and Sweden are both close behind with 44 and 43 respectively.
“This shows that Danish retailers and brand are more competitive and more ready to fight with marketplaces,” Kasper Holst the CEO of IMPACT tells.
The results across nations
DK: 61
SE: 56
NO: 53
DK: 49
SE: 51
NO: 49
DK: 50
SE: 45
NO: 39
DK: 30
SE: 29
NO: 33
DK: 43
SE: 36
NO: 41
Where are the main differences?
The most distinctive way in which Danish retailers and brands outperform their Swedish and Norwegian counterparts comes down to the connection between online- and physical stores.
Our analysis shows that the Danes are better at in-store promotion of online services and accommodating mobile payment solutions and gift cards on both channels.
But they are also taking the lead because of the high score in the awareness and loyalty phase.
In the awareness phase Denmark scores 57, Sweden 52, and Norway 48 out of 100. Danish retailers and brands stand out when it comes to the use of Google Shopping and social media – both paid, retargeting, and organic.
Awareness is a must to attract customers, but as everyone is competing for the attention with gigantic pure players and other omnichannel players, it is an expensive fight. That’s yet another reason for working intensely with the loyalty and retention of customers.
The results align with EU’s digital index
The results of our omnichannel analysis corresponds with numbers from the EU Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), that summarises relevant indicators on Europe’s digital performance and tracks the evolution of EU Member States in digital competitiveness.
In the EU Index, Denmark is the most digital of the three countries when it comes to e-commerce and the adoption of digital technology within enterprise-sized organization.
Sweden and Norway have the same level of digital maturity, however, both behind Denmark.
National competition and pride
Kasper Holst, CEO of IMPACT, explains the Danish maturity:
The battle to become the Danish omnichannel master proves how national competition affects the performance of the best omnichannel retailers and brands. When the competition is high, businesses are willing to go one step further to win over the customers.”
Naturally, as the quality of omnichannel efforts accelerates among retailers and brands in Denmark, so does customer expectations as they get used to seamless experiences, forcing Danish retailers and brands to constantly one-up themselves and each other.
Rise in maturity since 2018
Compared to the last IMPACT Omnichannel Index, where we gathered data in 2018, the omnichannel maturity amongst Danish retailers has improved from 33 in 2018/19 to 45 in 2020.
It is the first time we analyse the omnichannel level in Sweden and Norway. Therefore, we cannot comment on the development in these two countries.
Kasper Holst, CEO of IMPACT, is however happy to see the rise in maturity amongs Danish companies.
It shows that companies are investing in creating better customer experiences and thereby getting an increased customer lifetime value. I hope that the maturity will keep increasing in all Scandinavian countries, so that companies can keep their market share in the years to come
It’s all about loyalty
A wise man once said: “It is five times more expensive to attract new customers than to retain existing ones”. And there is something about it. Loyal customers mean higher profits for the business. They buy more, they buy more often, and stay loyal for a long time.
This is something Danish retailers and brands have understood. They are exceptional at recruiting new members to their exclusive customer clubs – strengthening the relationship between the brand and the customer. Loyalty or customer clubs are extremely effective ways to increase sales.
85% of the Danish retailers and brands requite to loyalty programmes or newsletter, compared to only 42% of the Norwegian and 16% of the Swedish businesses.
Omnichannel seen from a customer point of view
In order to succeed as a retailer today, understanding customers and their journey is a prerequisite. Therefore, we have mapped the customer journey – from first interest to service and loyalty creation both online and in-store.
The customer journey is divided into five phases starting with the first touchpoint on Google in the awareness phase, then the evaluation phase and on to the purchase itself followed by the service and loyalty phase.
In the total index score, the number of criteria fulfilled is added across the five phases, and the score is then calculated in the same way (example: 21 criteria met out of 51 possible = a score of 41).
