3 Big Trends in Omni-Channel Retail
With the 2014 holiday shopping season just around the corner, online retailers are focused on executing their major projects for the year and moving towards testing and stabilizing their online environments. Here are three things that some of the most innovative online retailers are doing in preparation for peak season:
1. From Clicks to Bricks:
The line between online and offline has all but vanished. There is no such thing as a consumer who only shops online, or only shops in store. Formerly "pure-play eCommerce" companies are now expanding into brick-and-mortar, but they're doing it in creative ways.
Take Indochino who offer custom tailored mens suiting. They've opened four showrooms, where you can go to feel the fabrics, get measured by their tailors, and place your order for the suit to be delivered to your home. They're using their existing eCommerce infrastructure and applications to support their showrooms. Even if the shopper doesn't buy a suit that day, he's been measured, reducing friction for future online purchase.
Marks & Spencer have implemented a digital store solution in Amsterdam with a virtual rack that allows users to try on clothes digitally, and order in store via kiosk for at home delivery or in store pickup, again supported by their eCommerce systems. Want to think about it and buy it later? Just log in at home or on mobile and the items will be in your cart. This also has the added benefit of carrying less in-store inventory, but extending all of your available SKUs to the customer.
The take home point is that eCommerce companies are quickly becoming true omni-channel retailers. Digital everywhere is what today's shopper desires.
2. Empowering Store Associates:
Shoppers are using their smartphones while in store to do price comparison and inventory checks. The consumer is now as empowered and as knowledgeable as the store associate, if not more. Rather than resist this trend, leading omni-channel retailers are putting digital tools into the hands of their store associates. The interesting thing about these tools is that they're rarely based off of traditional store systems like POS and inventory management. The eCommerce platform serves as a much better application layer to build off of.
Among many, The Demandware platform now offers an in-store solution which gives store associates the ability to use guided selling, making up-sell opportunities based on the customer's preference and even order history. The shopper can check out at a traditional POS or have the store associate complete the transaction for home delivery, in many regions same or next day.
3. Seamless Multi-Screen Experiences:
Online retailers often have a heavy bias towards improving conversion rate, but the core focus has shifted and will continue to shift towards optimizing the experience on every digital channel. Users engage now in more "micro-sessions" and their online purchasing habits are often influenced by store and showroom visits. Consumers don't think about "channels" they think about shopping. She'll buy when she's ready. As a retailer (online, offline, omni-channel) your mission is to make the shopping experience amazing! This will drive customer loyalty and improve brand value.
A recent study by Deloitte stated that by the end of this year, digital will influence OVER HALF of all in store purchases. That's $1.5 TRILLION. I hear so often that justifying investment in a smaller and lower converting channel like mobile is hard to justify. That sentiment completely misses the mark unfortunately. Users may or may not convert on smartphone or tablet, but purchasing behaviour has shifted dramatically. Multiple sessions spanning mobile, desktop and in store are the new norm. Investment should be placed on your fastest growth channels like mobile. Ensuring that the shopping experience on smartphones and tablets is seamless will drive conversion up on mobile devices, but it will also influence in store sales significantly.
Concluding Thoughts:
- Discrete channels are disappearing and your organization will need to support these shifts in both management structure and consumer mindset
- Online retailers who don't also have a "real world" presence will likely struggle
- Omni-channel retailers are often under-estimating the role of mobile and digital on total spend
What do you think? I'd love to hear your comments!
Design at Clio | Shaping the future of generative AI for law firms
10 年Another excellent example is Everlane. Excellent eCommerce experience enriched by their brick and mortar stores. The merging of in-store experience design and great eCom experience is going to be key.
Co-Founder/Partner @ SixtyTwo.co & ProjectLima.co
10 年Macy's effort in bridging the customer experiences with iBeacon installation is also another great example. Good to see more and more retailers are moving in this direction as the dividing line between online and offline experiences is diminishing. Exciting times indeed.
Luxury B&B by the beach
10 年Great article, there has never been a better time for retailers to make use of these digital fingerprints that consumers leave when they interface with them across devices. Direct marketing is a proven medium, and in the digital age it has to become real time, direct and highly personalized. Exciting times ahead :)
Maakvoort Groep, managing partner
10 年Very interesting. Have seen the strength of this concept in various stores. it was a powerful shopping experience.
Store Manager at Raymour & Flanigan Furniture and Mattress
10 年Great information Mike. I believe one of the biggest challenges in Retail right now is leveraging the customers desire to walk in with a need (or want), and walk out of a retailer with a product for that immediate gratification. While some are willing to wait for a product to arrive at their homes, I believe all customers do want to know what their options are (price comparisons, etc.) and this is where the true value of our sales associates can come in. Not only to do the homework for the customer, but they then have the ability to show that customer the added value of shopping with them instead of the competitor.