Studies arrived last week on the growth of customization in footwear and apparel, omnichannel order tracking, online-ad spam, mobile pay, the important of brand’s values and retailers paying off hackers.

Nearly a Third of Americans have Customized Footwear/Apparel

According to a study from YouGov, 29 percent of Americans have personalized apparel or footwear products. Of those, 67 percent said they would pay more to personalize apparel and footwear and 22 percent said personalization is a “top interest” for them.

Made to Order: A Look at Consumer Perception Towards Product Personalization

“Too Many” Online Ads

Forty percent of consumers report “too many ads” as the biggest frustration when shopping on mobile devices and 53 percent report the same on desktop, according to new data from voice of customer (VoC) platform Usabilla. Along with intrusive ads, the report found that re-entering information like shipping and billing addresses when shopping with their preferred retailers online is the biggest frustration for 34 percent of desktop shoppers and 31 percent of mobile shoppers.

Too Many Ads Remains the Biggest Frustration for Online Shoppers

Consumers Want Omnichannel Order Tracking

According to a new report from BRP, the retail management consulting firm, 73 percent of consumers want the ability to track orders across all points of interaction, while only 42 percent of retailers offer the ability to track orders across channels. Other findings include 64 percent of consumers are fine with retailers saving purchase history and personal preferences if more personalization is offered and 62 percent of consumers check reviews/ratings before visiting a store.

Tracking Across All Touchpoints but Only 7 Percent of Retailers Currently Offer “Start Anywhere, Finish Anywhere” Order Capabilities

Gen Zers’ Smartphone-Enabled in Stores

Almost half (47 percent) of Gen Zers use their smartphones while shopping at brick-and-mortar locations, according to the “What Do Gen Z Shoppers Really Want?” study from NRF. Respondents said they do the following “all or most of the time”: 53 percent check online to see if there is anything else they’d prefer to buy that is not available in the store where they are; 52 percent compare the price of a product they are considering with its price at other retailers and 51 percent search the web for a coupon, discount or promotion.

What Do Gen Z Shoppers Really Want?

Apple Pay and Google Pay Losing Traction

According to a survey of nearly 600 merchants by Kount, several major mobile wallets have lost traction, with the percentage of respondents accepting Apple Pay in 2018 down from 48 to 35 percent, the most drastic decline of all mobile wallets and Google Pay down from 38 to 25 percent. Count is a provider of fraud and risk management solutions.

New Survey Finds Fewer Merchants Accepting Apple Pay

Brand Values More Important to Younger Generations than Older Ones

A majority of consumers, 52 percent of Millennials and 48 percent of Gen Xers, feel it’s important that their values align with the brands they like, according to a study from Euclid, a data platform for offline attribution and store visit retargeting. In contrast, just over a third (35 percent) of Baby Boomers agreed. Of the consumers surveyed, 68 percent of Baby Boomers indicate products are equally as important as the brand’s values to their perception of the brand; in contrast, just 54 percent of Millennials and 59 percent of Gen Xers feel the same.

Survey Reveals Younger Generations Increasingly Demand Alignment of Brands’ Values with Their Own

Retailers Paying Off Hackers

For the first time in the survey’s five-year history, a majority of executives (53 percent) surveyed as part of Radware’s 2018 Executive Application and Network Security Report reported paying a hacker’s ransom following a cyber-attack. According to the report, 69 percent of executives said that their company faced a ransom attack in the past year, compared with only 14 percent noting so in 2016. Meanwhile, two-thirds of executives (66 percent) report a lack of confidence in their network security, admitting their networks are penetrable by hackers. Radware is a provider of cyber security and application delivery solutions.

Radware Survey Finds Majority of Companies Paid a Hacker’s Ransom Over the Past Year

Photo courtesy YouGov