How can brick-and-mortar retailers win them back with omnichannel commerce?
Online has won, offline has lost?
Physical retail is not dead, retail of the past is
Retail is going through a huge, irreversible transformation, where consumers define new rules of engagement.
Realising that things will never be the same, retail giants have been shaping up, investing tens of millions of dollars to offer convenience and fulfilment to consumers at every possible access point – whether it is physical store, online, desktop, or mobile.
Brick-and-mortar retailers that do not grasp the changes in consumer behaviour are losing their customers, revenue, and possibly their entire business. Even retailers that were seen as too big to fail have fallen victim to the changing retail landscape underneath them. Digital consumers are willing to return to physical stores. They are no longer just sitting at home and ordering online. Equipped with smartphones, they bring their digital lifestyle everywhere they go.
That is good news, and a huge opportunity for brick-and-mortar stores.
In this shifting retail environment, the stores that are able to offer digital touch points across multiple channels will prevail and win back their customers.
Retailers have to familiarise themselves with new trends and concepts in the consumer journey.
Only then, they can decide on their game plan, which will make them successful now, and in the future.
Even small businesses can be open 24 hours a day – and that’s right because consumers want to engage with you whenever they choose. Even if your shop supports a local geographic area, people can still order online from wherever they are—at home, at work or en-route through mobile platforms. Businesses realise that they need to provide the option to buy whenever and wherever consumers are located. This can be the difference between winning or losing a sale.
Kevin Salaman,
Head of Global Omnicommerce, Global Product & Innovation, Elavon
Omnichannel is changing everything
How do you win consumers back?
Smartphones have entirely transformed the behaviour of almost all consumers. Searching mobile, buying online, purchasing or returning in physical stores – consumers are increasingly demanding a uniform experience across multiple sales channels. It is an evolution called omnichannel.
The tide is slowly turning; omnichannel is gaining prevalence with every passing day, and there is no going back. Omnichannel gives retailers the leeway they need to compete against their online-only rivals.
Emerging omnichannel trends show that customers are still interested in physical retail – but with digital touch points that enrich the shopping experience.
To win customers back, physical retailers have to embrace the lifestyle of their customers and offer them convenience and fulfilment.
Surprisingly, the most important digital touchpoint retailers need is already there – it is the consumer smartphone. They use it to find a store, track its inventory, and retailers need to embrace smartphone use in their store.
Unlike in the past, it is now possible to use off-the-shelf cloud technologies to set up a digital presence and create touchpoints in just a few hours and be digital everywhere.