For quite some time, retailers’ position, revenue, costs, and customer loyalty have been threatened by the ever-increasing influence of online consumer purchases. They are still struggling with how to deal with this. Large companies have in-house expertise through online marketers or a CMO. Smaller companies may only have an online marketer, or they have to figure it out themselves.
Unprecedented changes have already taken place. How often do we see that a number of shops in shopping centers are no longer occupied? Vacancies. Big names have already gone under, such as V&D, Free Record Shop, Edah, Kijkshop, Schoenenreus, and Bart Smit. They have succumbed to the changed purchasing behavior of consumers.
Retailers must transform for survival. Doing nothing means declining sales and ultimately bankruptcy. After all, consumers are spending increasingly more time shopping and buying online and are already well acquainted with it. Nevertheless, something can still be done by thinking differently about assertive consumers, by applying the Omni-channel system, and by completely changing the store concept. What should the (new) store look like?
Ensure that you know what your consumers know, want, and expect. The old days, when you competed in the store based on product, mix, merchandising, promotion, etc., are a thing of the past. Today’s consumers focus on social networks and forums, enabling each other to focus on the personal or professional impact of using products and services. This is the personalization of the product or service. At the root of this lies not the product or service itself, but its use. What is the added value for the consumer personally? That is the new starting point.
More and more consumers looking to buy something are doing their research online. They check websites for prices, delivery terms, stock availability, and warranties. They can also gather information from forums regarding other consumers’ experiences with a product, manufacturer, or retailer. By the time they do visit the store, they have already gathered so much information beforehand that a genuine sales pitch is more likely to cause irritation than result in a sale. Therefore, the focus must shift to a different shopping experience.
Because consumers spend so much time on social forums, it is important for retailers to link the results of consumer discussions to their products. The advantage of this is that anyone visiting the forum can take note of it. The positive effect of this is that people go to the store with more interest and knowledge.
The online marketer will have to align every brand message across every medium the consumer uses. This includes brochures and, not to forget, the store itself. Consistency is extremely important.
Enable consumers to communicate with the company. Digital technologies are highly suitable for this, such as email, websites, forums, and digital customer service. Also provide the store and physical advertising with the opportunity to connect with consumers.
The online marketer must align interactions with consumers with the results thereof. Regardless of the product being sold, the online marketer must focus on the consumers’ personal experience and the emotions associated with it.
Analyzing the outcomes on the various social media platforms (websites, forums, customer service, store, etc.) serves as the source for a possible adjustment of the digital policy.
Physical stores have generally suffered revenue losses due to the rise of online stores. Physical stores have maintained the same concept of stocking and selling products for centuries. Costs have been incurred for this in the form of rent and personnel costs. Online stores have no physical stores, no or few rent costs, and no or few personnel costs. The very existence of physical stores is therefore threatened by online stores. The stores must undergo radical change. The old structure will become increasingly irrelevant. The consumer must go to the physical store and take the purchase with them personally. You serve the online store from the comfort of your own home and have it delivered, sometimes even on the same day.
Online stores offer all products in many shapes and colors, whereas physical stores usually have less stock to display. Offering the product range entails high operational costs. The retailers’ response to this is often to lower sales prices. Without other adjustments, that is fatal. The art lies in aligning the in-store experience with the online experience. Of course, pricing is an important factor, but there must be compensation. After all, the established digital purchasing trends are unstoppable.
The store must therefore be transformed from the perspective of hearing, seeing, feeling, smelling, and tasting. A completely new starting point, but one that aligns with a new consumer need. After all, the consumer already has the product. Knows its pros and cons. So invite them in with resting points such as a sofa, consider a drink with a snack, some form of entertainment, let them experience expertise, etc. Atmosphere is enormously important.
