More than 350 shoppers have taken to Twitter in the last month using #GhostEconomy, created by OrderDynamics. The hashtag was created so they could share their shopping experiences with retailers over the Christmas period. The main finding is that retailers are leaving customers product-less, disappointed and in many cases in the queue for a refund by offering a poor delivery service or lack of available products online.

“Many shoppers were rightly disappointed that their gifts failed to arrive on time or were out of stock once they’d placed the order and the retailer had taken their money. They are victims of the data and inventory disconnects that are inherent in most retail organisations today. This, combined with a number of other ‘retail fails,’ has left shoppers wanting when it comes to retailers’ abilities to consistently meet consumer demand,” says Kevin Sterneckert, chief marketing officer at OrderDynamics.

A number of shoppers also used #GhostEconomy to complain that websites would allow them to complete their online shopping order, only to receive an email later stating the product they had purchased was no longer in stock. One retailer took 11 days after initial payment to notify a customer of an issue with fulfilling their order. Another offered discount promotional codes for products that failed to work as advertised at the checkout. Other issues included faulty or damaged goods upon delivery, poor customer service, orders arriving later than the promised delivery date and in some cases, the wrong items were delivered to the consumer.

Despite these issues, several retailers were mentioned as great examples, including Amazon, George at Asda, House of Fraser and Toys R Us. These were praised for providing a seamless shopping experience, fast delivery and relevant promotions. Sterneckert adds: “The Ghost Economy haunts all corners of retail, where products are marketed and orders are taken for products that are not available. According to IHL Group, the Ghost Economy represents a £500 billion data and inventory disconnect plaguing retailers. The routes of this problem are out-of-stock products, overstocked merchandise, disappointed customers and profit losses; there is simply not enough employee bandwidth to manage the costly disconnects in inventory, operations, shipping and delivery that are unravelling the omnichannel experience. Our contest revealed the mismatch of services most retailers are offering which is leaving many shoppers frustrated."

Share Story: