Whether it is the impact of online shopping or the recent epidemic, it has become more difficult for physical retail to survive. Although the outlook does not look optimistic, there are still many physical stores that can stand firm and adapt to the ever-changing business environment and consumer behavior. If you look at retail stores from a new perspective, you will find that physical stores still have endless possibilities because:
Stores are seeing different types of traffic every day : While in-store traffic has declined, new types of traffic are surging, such as buy online and pick up in store (BOPIS) or curbside pickup. Calculating KPIs based solely on in-store traffic is not accurate, at least not yet. So we have to change the way we measure traffic.
"Comparable sales" has become the new hotness: stores are now starting to pay attention to some new revenue streams, such as influencers and live streaming sales.
The tactile experience has changed: As retailers begin to deploy mobile devices in stores to allow customers to discover products, check out and pay in a contactless manner, the shopping experience has changed from seeing, touching and feeling to seeing, digitally touching and feeling.
Experiential retail has arrived : New technologies such as 7D and 9D are taking immersive and interactive experiences to the next level. Shoppers will be able to experience these new technologies by visiting smart stores.
- In-store shopping has become an entertainment activity: After days of lockdown, shopping will become the main leisure activity for shoppers to relax. Customers will go to stores to see if there are new products, whether the brand has discounts, and see what others are buying - the rich variety of items, the strong desire to shop, and the sense of showing off and pride brought by status symbols will still stimulate people's hormones and make them feel happy.
- Ethical practices and sustainability are no longer optional considerations : shoppers, especially those born after 2000, are more ethically conscious when shopping and will search for relevant information about products in advance.
Shopping becomes borderless : With physical retail supported by augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) and emerging technologies, shoppers can get the experience of in-store shopping without leaving home and connect with friends virtually to make purchasing decisions.
The future of retail is here
There is no doubt that shopping in physical stores can bring customers a powerful pleasure that no other shopping channel can bring. However, the key problem of physical sales channels at present is to keep people excited and achieve the convenience of online shopping. Just like Hollywood blockbusters often have stars playing multiple roles (for example, Cate Blanchett played 13 roles in "Manifesto" and Tom Hanks played more than four roles in "Cloud Atlas"), now, retail stores will also play multiple roles:
Stimulation and entertainment : Social distancing regulations under the epidemic have made people more eager for offline interactions than ever before. Stores should reposition their retail products and services in innovative ways and provide products and services in the form of entertaining shopping to re-stimulate people's shopping pleasure.
Discovery and interaction : With the increasing number of self-service retail stores that require payment by scanning a QR code, it will be critical to redesign product discovery and customer interaction methods. As more and more customers expect to shop in retail stores as conveniently and undisturbed as online stores, and driven by the need for epidemic prevention, product discovery needs to become more digital. The practice of "shopping in stores first and then online" that was once hated by retailers may create new opportunities for store employees to enhance interaction with customers and create more value.
Enablement and Utilization : Regardless of the channel preferred by consumers, retail stores are most likely to be at the core of an omnichannel positioning, supporting curbside pickup, BOPIS, buy online and ship to store (BOSS), micro-fulfillment or crowdsourced delivery, etc.
So what does all this mean for retail stores? Retail stores need to dynamically select multiple identities based on the context of customer interactions and the roles of in-store employees. Even more challenging is that all of these identities need to be portrayed at the same time, unlike movies that can be reshot and post-produced. This makes it necessary for retail stores to use the power of machines to drive customer experience in physical stores, employee management or smart in-store picking, automated micro-distribution or smart inventory management through artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) algorithms to manage demand from different channels or digital twins of retail stores. Cognitive smart retail stores that can respond in real time and take the lead in technology can integrate automation, intelligence, autonomous operations with hyper-personalization and unified commerce, and are the future development direction of physical stores.
Summarize
Recently, some brick-and-mortar retailers have been able to meet growing digital demand by shifting inventory from stores and delivering fast, contactless fulfillment, while maintaining inventory productivity and achieving business goals. Many retailers are striving to accelerate sales growth, improve gross margins, increase inventory productivity, optimize general and administrative (SG&A) expenses, improve working capital efficiency, and reduce operating costs (CODB). Algorithmic retailing and the machine-first paradigm can help omnichannel retail shift to a “Zen” mode, leapfrogging to purpose-centered shopping, and ultimately freeing retailers from the constraints of channels.
联系我们
联系我们
