While customers are still very interested in physical retail experiences, their expectations are higher, their appetite for experiential retail growing forcing malls to adapt Omnichannel technologies faster than ever before. Add to this the COVID-19 pandemic and suddenly, malls have had to reshape their strategies, incorporate new features into their business structure, and are now moving towards those technologies and experiences that are digitally more convenient to the consumer stuck at home.

The idea of designing a cohesive user experience at all touchpoints was so successful for retailers and appealing to crowds that shopping centres decided to adopt the strategy and mould it to their specifications. With the idea of doing away with an outdated tenant-mix model, mall developers are today proactively adapting properties to generate growth in an Omnichannel retailing context.

Shopping centres are moving away from the traditional copy-and-paste mall model by creating memorable and unique destinations that attract both tenants and shoppers. Omnichannel malls send mobile updates for movies, book tickets via the mall app, including offers, table booking in restaurants, information on new rides in gaming zones and available parking space ensuring that the consumers (families) visit the mall again and again.

Aside from this, an Omnichannel mall can integrate traditional methods of mass advertising with emerging interactive channels – websites, emails, and social media messaging – to give the same messages, and offers, and showcase the same products to consumers. This will help incorporate the needs, communications and interactions between customers, brands/ retailers and malls.

Malls give them the comfort and ease of spending hours roaming and checking out stores, while the dwell time in high-street stores is limited to minutes. Malls can also provide much better consumer engagement than some big players on high streets including creating a great ambience.

The post The Omnichannel Way first appeared on PHYGITAL RETAIL CONVENTION (PRC).

Thus, even a single purchase is no longer a linear transaction that involves going and buying a product. Rather, it is an integration of multiple channels, made of both brick and click (and some print and outdoor as well.). Accordingly, retailers also need to fine-tune their strategy and be omnichannel-inclusive to offer a seamless customer experience.

An Integrated Approach
A systematic and integrated approach needs to be on top of the game for retailers. Not doing so won’t just push them back but can even be crippling in the longer run. To adjust and win in these transforming times would need cohesive integration of multiple channels: physical, print, digital, etc. Retailers have to go the extra mile to give their customers an enhanced and seamless experience in-store as well virtually.

Enhanced Physical Experience
Physical stores will persist in India, despite many pundits predicting their demise. In the brick-and-click battleground, the latter won’t completely outflank the former. E-commerce is soaring high but it can’t give a personalized touch and hands-on experience like its physical counterparts. This is one of the reasons the bigger digital retailer Amazon is also racking up investments in physical stores.

Webrooming and Showrooming
Hybrid models of retail are evolving and we will continue to see the confluence of digital channels and physical stores. Recently, a Shopify survey showed 59% of respondents prefer webrooming, which means they will learn about a product on the web and prefer to buy them in-store. Likewise, 54% prefer showrooming, which means they will check out a product in-store and buy it over the web.

This means going forward, marketing is not about brick vs mortar but how to synchronise the two to give larger value to the customers. Brands need to work on seamless integration of channels — in store, e-commerce, mobile, social, etc — to offer an engaging and personalized experience to the customers.

The Rise of Video Marketing
Videos are a highly essential component of the new-age marketing mix. It is estimated that on average a customer watches ~ 100 mins of video content every day, underlining its importance in initiating brand communication, disseminating product information, and nurturing customer engagement. Increasingly, marketers are now earmarking a sizable part of their budget for video communication.

Videos can also be used in-store to drive engagement. It can be used for in-store navigation, safety protocol (fireplaces, exits, etc), store information (testing places, check out, etc.). This can also help cut down overhead costs.

Importance of Data Analytics
An integrated analytics solution is the cornerstone to running a successful omnichannel strategy. It helps in optimizing the marketing budget, making concentrated efforts, improving campaigns, and enhance supply chain and inventory management.

However, omnichannel data analytics requires scrutinizing multiple channels across numerous key data points including those involving customer interactions, inquiries, and sales across all the relevant channels.

The post 5 Ways to Build a Successful Omnichannel Retail Strategy first appeared on PHYGITAL RETAIL CONVENTION (PRC).

Click and mortar is an omnichannel business model where retailers merge online and offline sales channels to streamline the shopping experience. This typically includes an e-commerce website and a brick-and-mortar location. Omnichannel shopping gives customers the ability to use multiple methods to browse and shop for products. Customers can enjoy the ease of shopping online or in-person, making click and mortar more convenient and flexible for shoppers and more competitive than retail businesses that only sell via one channel.

Retailers can enjoy many benefits by integrating e-commerce strategies with traditional physical stores. The main benefit of click and mortar is omnichannel selling. By selling products across various channels—online and in-store—retailers can get access to a wider market and create more touchpoints for shoppers to discover and buy the products. It also creates a seamless shopping experience for the customers as they can do research online before visiting the physical stores or check out products offline before ordering them. By having both an online and physical storefront, some shoppers may opt for shipping options like buy online, pickup in-store (BOPIS). This can help retailers save money on shipping costs. It can also lead to more foot traffic and sales at the brick-and-mortar store. Meeting customers in person and giving them the option to see, touch, and test the products before they buy can help build trust and recognition for a brand leading to increased sales revenue.

Brands such as Nykaa, Pepperfry, Urban Ladder, Lenskart, Myntra, have adopted the omnichannel strategies and are riding the click-and-mortar wave to successfully multiply their brand reach and profits. These e-tailer companies, understand that Indian customers are omnichannel shoppers. So, the only way to get more sales, reduce cost, and personalize the shopping experience is by adopting click-and-mortar. These brands revamping their business models and integrating themselves deeply into the customer experience, so they are there wherever and whenever the customers need them.

Brands and retailers who understand the power of merging online and offline channels and human psychology will be the winners, as the dichotomy of online and offline no longer exists, because the physical world is augmented and enhanced by digital capabilities. They will have to continuously measure online and offline consumer behaviors and know where their customers are going for omnichannel is no longer a choice but an essential survival tool in today’s retail industry. Are the existing retail players ready for this transition?

– Sadaf Anjum

The post Click and Mortar: Switching between online and offline first appeared on PHYGITAL RETAIL CONVENTION (PRC).