Experiential Retailing and E-commerce

Most of the retail stores this year has seen a similar growth patterns  The graph has not touched the expectations as compared to the previous years and there is some hussle about the lack of consumers traffic in store. The one industry that has shown a considerable amount of growth is E-commerce or online shopping. The post below discusses the change in shopping trends and the effect of E-commerce over the traditional brick and mortar stores. In case of retail stores, this calls for introduction of technology and a unique shopping experience to make shoppers back to the stores. And for brands, this calls for a strategy which aligns E-commerce and retail stores together. Happy reading !!

Shopping trends

• Popularity of e- commerce 

Consumers are now shifting to online shopping experience. It gives them the ease of excess without taking any additional pain to move out of their place. The options are far more and even discounts are on offer. The other day i was browsing the internet and decided to look out for few products online, i registered myself on "myntra.com" and immediately got Rs.2000 shopping vouchers which surprised me and made me convert. Shopping made easy and can be done along with other activities.Technology used by consumer is changing the way people shop and this is turn is changing retailing.

• Smart phones penetration

Another important aspect is the increasing use of smartphones. Smartphone penetration in the industry continues to rise along with the rising overhead costs of running big retail formats. And for consumers showrooms are just other dimension hugely expanded choice available to dicey consumers who want to shop via e-commerce.

Sure, some shoppers will treat retail locations as showrooms, try out a product and possibly purchase it somewhere else. But comparison shopping isn’t new, after all.

Amazon introduced its “Price Check” mobile phone app late in 2011. The app enables in-store shoppers to scan or search a product. It then immediately compares prices from Amazon.com or its merchants.
My previous post contains about a store name Hointer which doesn't have human staff, wall shelves which works through robots who gets commands from a smart phone app to act to serve the shoppers. This store provides a unique shopping experience.

The need for a great brand experience.

It is now a challenge for a retail industry to get the sales up by increasing the consumer traffic in store. Brand experience starts from the window and ends with the overall shopping experience. Shoppers loves  surprise elements in store which leads to a fun shopping experience and educates them about the brand and its products.
It is time when the retailers invest more in the stores to provide a worthwhile experience.
The technology in visual display cannot be avoided.The physical store location can be the starting point for the retailer/consumer relationship. It’s where the retailer can sweep a shopper off his or her feet and where the shopper can fall head over heels in love with the brand. Once that connection has been made it doesn't matter which one of the retailer’s channels the consumer purchases from. So stores can be the point were shoppers can become more loyal and get emotionally attached because of the brand experience and service provided to them.

Experiential retailing : The use of technology.

Here are some of the examples where brands are trying to provide a memorable shopping experience to consumers.


I was just blown away by this Burburry store in London  It surely is top of the chart for me when it comes to shop experience. 

The screen showing live event in Burburry store

The mirrors can turn into screens at burburry store

The Burberry store on Regent St. in London was designed as a physical representation of the luxury brand’s website.The interactive mirrors can be transformed into screens. Clothing in the store is embedded with chips, which can be read by screens and mirrors that show how the garment was worn on the runway, or details of how it was made.They have global live events screening in store and much more. The store gives a unique digital experience to the consumers and guarantee a memorable shopping experience.


Check out the video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CokbQWI_15U

Adidas with Intel created virtual footwear wall :

adiVerse, a virtual footwear wall, gives in-store shoppers access to expanded online inventory via a digital display to select items on a virtual shelf, view it in 3D detail, get more product information, and make a purchase.

A shot of the footwear wall showing the product details of selected shoe.

The digital footwear wall by Adidas

adiVerse delivers a dynamic life-size interactive experience, allowing adidas to more readily communicate the purpose of each shoe and tell a more inspiring story through the shoe itself, the environment and the sounds. Creating the sense of wanting to go and play, or go for a run, creating an emotional connection with the shopper and strengthening adidas brand loyalty and resulting repeat shopper visits and increased sales. For video :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKbsfOAVu3Y

Canadian fashion retailer Simons introduced a new technology driven concept for its 115,000 sq. ft. space in the West Edmonton Mall, its first location outside of Quebec. The company hired interior design firm to identify specific target demographics to help translate Simons’ private label brands into physical spaces within the new location. A denim wall was equipped with gaming stations for its Djab label which targets the teenage “skater boy,” for example.


Another section of the store includes a giant iPad replica that lets shoppers take pictures of their in-store experience and share it with their social media networks.

Puma's shoe customization in store :

Puma's i pad for customizing shoes.

Creative shoe factory : Puma came up with the idea of creative shoe factory in their store. Here the consumers can customize their shoes with the help of an app present in the store. This is mainly the extension of what they have in their online portal.

Fun games in store :

Foosball at Jack & Jones

A lot of brands started including fun games in store for increasing the time inside the store and make them happy and more indulged in shopping. Jack & Jones started keeping Foosball in store. Few stores in Puma used x box gaming and Foosball. This can help retailers giving a good time for shoppers but to use there lengthy stay and capitalize on it is another aspect which can not be neglected.

Summation

 We can have lot more examples of retailers doing experiments.But still, in this huge industry it is something which is not tried often. Part of the reason we don’t see more retailers experimenting with technology and the in-store space, can be the fear of being first to market and possibly the first to fail. All of these examples are all just touch points in the larger shopping experience. I think that’s what everyone is exploring.
All the retailers have their own E-commerce network but the shoppers are more attracted to the other online shopping websites which offers more brands at one place. Off course  these websites are also acts like the partners for the retail brands but the need is to get more loyal shoppers. The adiverse and burburry experience are the great examples that makes consumers educate about the brand and makes then emotionally attached.These are the shopping experience which tie in to their online portal and will definitely make more walk ins to the store and more visits to the brand's E-commerce sites. The consumers then look out for "whats next" form a brand and this is where the brand continues to grow.

On the other hand, it is very important for a brand point of view, to align the information across both the channels.Bad things happen when what’s on the website isn’t in the store, or when the same item is priced or configured differently. The key key factor for this problem is when the retail strategy defines both the accounts as separate identity.It doesn't matter for a brand if consumers shop online or from store.  The retailers should consider both the account as one and should work as one unit.
 A perfect example of an American department store chain Macy's align its online strategy to there retail stores.
 Check out the link for Macy's http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20130113/RETAIL_APPAREL/301139971