Aside from announcing the insanely expensive iPhone X last month, one piece of Apple news went somewhat unnoticed: the renaming of Apple stores to Apple “Town Squares.”
It’s easy to cringe at the proposed avenuesand shaded grovesimagined by Apple execs, but the vision is nothing short of genius.
Why? Because it’s not e-commerce that will replace retail, but experience.
Retail as we know it is dead. Shopping is no longer a battle of price and convenience, it’s a race to create something customers can touch and feel. Industry insiders call it experiential retail— creating destinations for customers that go way beyond the act of purchase and immerse customers in a 360-degree brand lifestyle.
Sure, the idea of creating brick and mortar stores people want to hang out in and experience sounds so obvious, but it turns out to be hard to execute. Unlike online shopping where every action is meticulously controlled and documented, building systems and software for the real world means accounting for unpredictability like weather, geography, connectivity, and human error to name a few.
Putting old siloed solutions together won’t cut it. That's like using the stars to find directions to the nearest corner store. Merging physical and digital worlds requires a new view of technology — one that is holistic and not limited to shopper’s direct actions.
Credit: MIN YEONG/splashIs it time retailers start looking for new careers? Hell no. We’re on the cusp of a retail renaissance. There has never been a more strategic time to be in the industry. If e-commerce continues to grow at a 15 percent annual clip, brick and mortar would still make up 70 percent of retail sales transacted five years from now, representing about 85 cents of every retail dollar transacted.
Every retail marketer has the chance to become a cutting-edge retail technologist, unifying a brand’s IRL and online channels into one customer experience.
Kaitlin Villanova, senior global director of digital and insights of Burton Snowboards, came to Burton from tech giant Oracle with the objective of evolving the company into an omni-channel retailer. Companies like Burton invest in events, product demos, in-store visuals, digital integrations, and store associate clienteling for their stores.
“Our in-store shoppers tend to have a much higher lifetime value than a customer who simply shops online, so we are doing everything we can to evolve and improve their shopping experience," Villanova said.
Already, retail tech upstarts are racing to lay the groundwork for the solutions retailers desperately need. Startups like BounceX, Tulip, Splash(disclaimer: my company), and Yextare creating new value across retail’s many touchpoints.
Even a massive industry player like Salesforce with their recent purchase of DemandWareis eyeing physical retail as the next opportunity for disruption. These companies are rewriting the playbook for retail and providing marketers with a comprehensive view of their customer’s experience and journey.
What will determine the success for retailers of tomorrow? Retail marketers must embrace these four concepts as they build their technology stacks:
1) Build around the consumer.
Who can connect the right customer to the right product at every stage of the journey? It seems simple, but making this connection is a battle retailers wage constantly, and it begins long before a person steps through the door. This practice is called clienteling or “progressive profiling.”
The retailers that hone in on their customer’s journey, streamline and promote moments of engagement within that journey will build long lasting brands. Those that do not will continue to wander. Success is a delicate balance of customer self-discovery and retailer guidance. But if retailers nail it, they capture customers for life.
Credit: splash2) Design solutions for every retail employee.
The people that work in retail are a huge component. In the U.S., the retail industry employs about 15.7 million workers, all with diverse backgrounds and technical acumen. Any technology adopted must be flexible enough for the twenty-something floor manager to use and, at the same time, intelligent enough for the data analyst upstream to pull next quarter’s forecast from.
Considering the complexity of the data these retail systems will manage, it’s a tall order. What’s most important is that these solutions provide users with actionable data in real-time. This is where tools like artificial intelligence and advanced data visualizations come into a field of their own, providing on-the-fly recommendations to the employees who can have the most impact at just the right time. With these systems retailers are not passive observers, but active guides in every customer’s shopping experience.
3) Get customers to your store (period).
We know how valuable it is to bring someone to your store but how to get them there. Today, it starts at the search bar, but tomorrow — thanks to advancements in AI, voice search, and mobile technology — the way customers find products is likely to change dramatically.
Instead of returning a mess of blue links when people search maps and apps, search engines are returning direct answers for "children's clothes near me" or "where's the nearest pharmacy." Try searching for a Samsung TV on your mobile device. The local stores that rise to the top are no coincidence.
Credit: MIN YEONG/SPLASH4) Understand the customer “in-store.”
It's crazy to believe that we still don't really understand what a person does in store. Once a customer walks in, they become a black box. Retailers understand a customer’s online habits and interactions exponentially better than the habits and actions they take on the retailer’s own property.
I have no doubt someone will come along and answer these questions, but that future is still a ways out. Beacons and geofencing can only do so much.
In the meantime, retail marketers can discover the motivations that drive their customers by connecting with their passions. Whether it’s through branded content or events, when people engage with brands in these moments, they are literally raising their hands and saying, “I’m excited and passionate about this!”
Retailers have been hosting personalized events for years such as the DIY workshops at Home Depot, Samsung’s Immersive Space with VR and Selfie Stations, REI Outdoor Events, Nike Run Club, and The Beauty Workshop at Sephora.
But with data now at the forefront of the offline experience, retailers can carefully curate guest lists and produce in-store activations that attract those customers most likely to buy. Splash has seen a wave of retail brands invest in scaled event programs to drive new customer growth and meaningful engagement with existing customers.
The best brands understand who their most passionate customers are and give them thrilling experiences
The best brands pay attention to those instances and double down. Think about the brand we all love. They understand who their most passionate customers are and give them thrilling experiences to go wild for. Think Apple's WWDC or Nike’s Run Club. Customers are actively sharing their thoughts and desires while retailers listen and learn, all at scale.
Retail as a whole is due for massive disruption, and it’s a call to arms for retail tech players, developers, and entrepreneurs. This is a 20+ trillion dollar industrywaiting for the right solutions to come along and claim their stake.
Already, we are witnessing an unprecedented flood of talent and funding into the space. I have no doubt that the largest tech companies of next decade will be rooted in retail tech and the retailers who recognize this opportunity and embrace best-in-class technology will flourish.
Ben Hindman is the CEO and co-founder of Splash (Splashthat.com), software that empowers event marketers to prove their impact on revenue.
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