Retail The DT way

Dr Raja Roy Choudhury

PhD(Eco), PhD(Psy), Harvard, ISB
Dean PG Campus & Director Department of Law
PIMR, Indore
People don’t always remember what you say or even
what you do, but they always remember how you made
them feel.
– Maya Angelou
How Modern Retailers are Getting Customers to Stick Around
Not everyone
wants to get in
and out of a store
in as little time
possible. Many
shoppers are
willing to take
their time,
provided that you
offer a lot of value
in-store.
Make room for interesting experiences
Have a think about any experiences that your customers
would want to have in your store. What would make
them want to hang out or stay longer? Find the answer to
that and make it happen.
Offer in-store services or classes
Set up in-store charging stations
Strike A Balance Between Fast And
Convenient Vs. Unhurried And
Experiential
Every tactic must be
executed in the pursuit
of getting to know the
customer. So that
every message is
intriguing, appreciative
and continues to draw
them into a
personalised brand
experience.
 Separate the customer from their purchase.
The new retail model demands we think of the customer journey
in an entirely new way.
Go Beyond Sales Targets When
Incentivizing Associates
• While sales targets are extremely important, you may also want to
consider metrics such as customer engagement. Which started testing
new staff compensation plans that “rewards guides for how well they
collect customer information from shoppers and keep in touch with
them.”

• Doing so incentivizes the staff to not just focus on selling products, but to
genuinely connect–and keep in touch–with shoppers.

• If it makes sense for your business, see if you can adopt a similar strategy.
With the right people, marketing strategies, and products
in your stores, you’ll find that going up against
ecommerce stores is entirely doable.
 Leverage the right technology.
Technology allows brands to court the customer like never
before – to learn what they do and do not like.
Pros And Cons Of Offline/Traditional Store

Pros Cons
• Numerous options • Not all stores accept all
• Face to face communication modes of payment
• Touch and feel product • Parking issues
• Direct and less confusion • Price Issues
• Easy to get or return the • Wait in queue at the cash
product counter
 Share stories that inspire them.
Be there for them when they need something – not when you
think they need something
Pros and cons of online store

Pros Cons
• Convenience • Physical feel of items missing
• Better prices • Out of stock problem
• Variety of products • Delivery risk
• Discounts • Misunderstanding while sopping
• Shipping charges
• Send gifts
• Online issues
• Fewer expenses
• Online fraud
• Comparison of prices
• Dull shopping experience
• Compulsive shopping • Spyware on your pcs
• Buy old or unused items at low prices • Online connectivity issues
Clicks v/s bricks

• Ecommerce sales have grown to about 6% of total

retail sales ( excluding gasoline and food services)
• Brick and mortar retailers still control between 94%
and 97% of total retail sales
 It's not about single sales.
Ignite and foster a long term, mutually beneficial and respectful
relationship
Retail success us about creating Great experience – just
like dating.
How attracted would you be to a date who just talked about
themselves all right ?
 We need to start asking our customers the right
questions.
We need to be interested in them learn about them and then
talk knowledgeably about what is of interest to them.
Every touch point along the customer journey is an
opportunity to build a relationship.
Where, when and how brands Interact with
each customer should be thoughtful and
What is said should give
them exactly what they
need in the moment
Get to know the customer and execute from the insight !
Don’t just blindly insert fancy technology and tactics that may end
up hindering the experience
 My likes and dislikes, wants and needs are unique to my
personality and way I live my life.
Brands need to cater to this and start personalising the
experience, service and offers accordingly
Ermahgred !

Source : sutterstock
Source : sutterstock
 Remember this…
Like dating, too many calls are just as bad as too few !
‘Showrooming’ occurs when a shopper visits a store to check out
a product but purchase online, from home or another location
later.
Shoppers still prefer to see and touch the merchandise
they buy, but many items are available at lower prices
online.
‘Webrooming’ occurs when customers research products online
before going into the store for a final evaluation and purchase.
This form of shopping is globally on the rise and
becoming more relevant to consumers and retailer alike.
In store is a digital stage Let’s wow them
Digital creates experiences Customer want something more…
Shopping need to be reinvented
• Wants to feel good about the store they enter – it has to
be clean, organized, with a clear traffic flow
• Preferences, selection and assortment to fit desires
• Assortment has quality first, quantity second
• Trends on hand
• Reasons to try and buy
• Share their experiences with their friends
• convenience
Can offline use of retailer coupons/voucher be
enhanced through mobile ?

• Redemption of a physical coupon/voucher in-store has been going on for decades but
involves a long lead time, is expensive to do and open to abuse (mis-and mail
redemption)

• Redemption of both physical and digital coupons/voucher via an ecommerce

platform is easy to manage and growing in use but most sales are still in-store

• Redemption of a digital coupons/voucher in-store or at a physical venues is more

difficult yet also where the opportunity lies.

• Once the retailer issues own offers then manufacturers can join in

Retailer-issued mobile coupons/vouchers for offline use are possible

Coupons and vouchers created and redeemed
in the same way
• Acquisition offers (e.g. discount coupon) and loyalty rewards (voucher) can
be managed through the same solution
– Coupon have traditionally been ‘clipped’ from a newspaper by unknown
customers
– Voucher are usually issued as rewards to loyal customers

• Don’t have a loyalty programme because of cost reason ?

– As well as distributing rewards electronically th loyalty programme can to run
virtually e.g. storing points against the consumers mobile number or in an app
instead of on a plastic card

We are good at solution design and systems integration – there will be a

way
Relationship = Revenue

1. Engaging experience 2. Relationship lead to

help build relationship more & better transaction
 y Card
Loyalt

Loyal customers
Types of Target based customers

Shoppers
y
Loyalt
Card

Experimental customers Impulse customers

Impulse customers Discount customers
The coupons/voucher universe
Today most coupons/vouchers are physical in format and redeemed instore

Where redeemed ?
In-store Online

Type ? Physical Digital Physical Digital

Success ?

Important The opportunity Small but growing

Life cycle stage Person 1 Person 2 … Person N

For each of these personas, define the content that will

hep them move from one stage to the next:
Strangers ( unware of your
company)
Visitors ( came to your site )

Contacts ( gave you their email

address )

Leads ( expressed interest in your

product/service)

Customers ( bought your product )

Evangelists ( love your product )

 Contact Hub
Meant to delight your audience
Posting
scheduling CTA to landing page
repurposing created content
curated content
contributors’ content

Distribution Landing Page

social media Gated high value content
Click-through
Email newsletter (offered for contact info)
Other blogs Product landing page
Content platforms with detailed pitch
As prospects move down you funnel,
they have questions. List them.
FAQs by stage
TOFU
(Awareness) • How should I think about
my problem ?
• What is XXX ? Define buyer personas
• How can I be better at XXX ?
MOFU • How do others solve my
(Communication)
problem ? Listen to customers
• Are there solutions ?
• How does this product solve
BOFU my problem? Collect FAQ’s from sales
(Decision) • How does it compare with
alternatives ?
• Has it worked for others ?
Practical Ways Brick-and-Mortar Stores Can
Compete with Ecommerce Sites
Emphasize speed and convenience
If your store is in a mall or shopping centre, work with
your landlord
Personalize customer interactions
Go beyond commodities
Be flexible with payments
Be competitive with pricing
Be online
Bonus: Compete *like* Amazon
How Fashion Retailers Can Use Digital
Marketing
#1: It’s the Experience, Not the Inventory

• Inventory Overload
• The Retail Experience
#2: Where’s the Service?
#3: Help Consumers Stay Connected
#4: How Many Stars Is This Product?
#5: Speak the Right Language
#6: It’s Time for Social Media Videos That
Don’t Suck
#7: Toss out the Mannequins
How Jewellery Retailers Can Use Digital
Marketing
Creating effective in-store digital retail
experiences
A review of the options to avoid 'showrooming' and
connect with customers digitally when they are in-store
Create a relaxing in-store environment
Retailer examples for improving the Shopper
Experience
How Best Buy improved their sales

Best Buy was in fear of losing customers as their customers

used their retail shops to come in to try out products, and
then buy them from Amazon. Instead of becoming
Amazon’s testing ground, Best Buy used the customer’s
showrooming behaviour to create the Best Buy showroom.
Best Buy implemented strategies from price-matching to
customer service improvements that converted more
shoppers into buyers. Best Buy is benefiting from profits.
How Tesco enhanced the shopper experience

Tesco eased the grocery shopping stress of time-strapped

customers by making the grocery store more accessible.
Tesco took a revolutionary leap by bringing Home Plus to
customers in South Korea. The initial launch of Home
Plus was in a busy South Korean subway
station, where customers could shop while they waited
for their train by simply using their smartphones to scan
QR codes and have their orders delivered.
Gucci Milan increasing runway excitement

• The digital theater Gucci Milan provides all the excitement

of the runway while giving Gucci customers an immersive
brand experience. Customers swipe through life size video
look books with an infinite assortment of Gucci styles. Gucci
also didn’t forget its up-and-coming customer: to highlight
Gucci children’s collections,
• Gucci created a video wall for kids. Children are entertained
by Gucci Teddy Bear, who dances to beats and sounds
created by children who interact with the wall.
McDonald's interactive experience

In the UK, McDonald’s created interactive 'Happy Meal

Play Zones', associating their food with fun and playtime.
The results? 92% of five to nine-year-olds who tried the
zone said they enjoyed playing on the interactive floor
media, 78% of parents liked the digital play area, and 87%
of five to nine-year-olds said they want to visit that
McDonald’s more often. (Brandchannel, 2012).
Three Takeaways for in-store digital
engagement

Research Defin Measuri

e ng
Shoppers States In-store Digital
Retail Presence Offsite And Mobile
Retail Presence Offsite And Online
Brand Presence In 3rd Party Online Sources.
 Customer Journey Map ( Retailer's Touchpoint)
Awareness Exterior In-store Post Sales
Touchpoint Marketing Arrival Entrance Sales force POS State Repeat Visit
Description Billboard, word of
mouth, online ad, tv,
Ease of finding store,
cleanliness, ease of
First impression,
associate
Navigation, layout,
routing, product
Wait times, impulse
purchases, self
Need state, brand
impression, likehood
Customer retention,
customer loyalty
radio, print ads, online parking, storefront, appearance, positioning, checkout, associate of repeat visit trip
content, social media, appearance, navigation, first assistance, associate check out, upsells spend
press release associate associate interaction experience final impressions
appearance, first
impression

Key What are our 20/80

channels?
How easy is it to find
our stores?
What’s the
customer’s first
How easy it is for the
customer to find
How long are
customer waiting?
Have the customer’s
initial needs been
How can we retain
more customers?
questions Which are driving How clean is the impression upon subsequent items? How relevant and met? How can we improve
engagement? parking lot? entering the store? How intuitive to our effective are our Is the customer’s customer loyalty?
What our online How easy is to find Do our associates store’s layout? impulse buys? impression of our
reputation? parking? appear clean How are the How is self-checkout brand better or
Cost of acquisition? How’s the storefront professional and customers routing impacting wait worse?
Where do we have the curb appeal? approachable? through the store? times> Was the customer’s
most leverage? How do our How easy is it for How easy it is for What about experience strong
associates outside customers to find customers to find customer spend? enough to persuade
the store appear? their first item? assistance? Are associates adding or dissuade another
What’s the Do our associates Are our associates to the customer's visit?
customer’s overall seem helpful and approachable, experience during Has the customer’s
first impression? knowledgeable? knowledgeable and checkout? trip spend been
upselling? How ca we increase maximized?
customer spend,
upsells and cross
sells of services at
the pos?