The digital experience is transforming your interaction with the physical space.
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The retail industry has and continues to shift with the advent of digital technology. Retailers are making changes to their business models, and new technologies are transforming the way consumers shop and how businesses operate. The digital experience has now become an important part of any retail strategy to attract customers and increase sales. In this article we will discuss how retailers could use technology to enhance the customer experience. We will also discuss what benefits these technologies bring for both brands and consumers alike.
Physical spaces vs digital solutions
Although consumers increasingly use digital channels to browse products and services, they remain committed to physical shopping across all generations. They value the ability to see, touch and understand products before making a purchase decision – and they appreciate the advice of an assistant armed with in-depth product knowledge. Personalised interactions are precious for higher-value purchases – or where there is a greater emphasis on purchasing the right product.
Digital channels are becoming more integrated into consumer purchasing habits, and consumers are increasingly expecting more from their physical shopping experiences. The demand for better advice, alternative solutions, and more personalised services are rapidly growing. Therefore, retail and service orientated businesses need more innovative tools to help them help their customers. The key is to give consumers access to data in their hands at the right time and place, giving them a more personalised store experience that exceeds their expectations.
The customers experience
Customers are more informed and expect more. They want to be entertained. The biggest challenge is sometimes how this change can be done in one go. The approach retailers tend to adopt is a pilot and then rollout. They start by selecting one location for a pilot program, then build on it allowing you to map to your digital strategy which evolves over time.
Customers are adept at accessing and comparing product features, reviews, and availability in their quest to make better purchasing decisions. The digital experience enhances the physical space as it helps you find exactly what you need and also takes away some of the challenges of buying things. For example, if you want to buy a pair of jeans but aren’t sure which size will fit best, then all you would have to do is look up reviews online before choosing the right one.
The digital experience can also be used as an extension of your marketing efforts by providing content that targets potential customers with relevant messaging and offers that align with their preferences while they engage with your brand online – which means they’re more likely to convert when they come face-to-face with a sales associate in person.
In order to effectively create a seamless, omni-channel experience for customers, retailers must consider how the digital and physical experiences are overlapping. A key component of this strategy is integrating on-demand applications into the in-store environment. With an app available on your smartphone or smartwatch, customers can browse products and make purchases from anywhere at any time. By creating an online presence and providing customers with access to information about their favourite brands at all times, retailers can boost sales by offering new products or special promotions on demand (i.e., when a shopper walks into the store).
Personalised interaction
Personalised interaction is a key way to engage with your customers. The physical experience is becoming digital, and vice versa. With a digital strategy in place you’re able to personalise your interactions with customers in so many ways:
- Promotions based on their purchase history
- Personalised advertising based on their browsing habits
- In-store upgrades based on footfall information (i.e. if there are a lot of people nearby)
The result is a seamless transition between physical space and digital world – one that can be accessed from anywhere at any time. Customers want this integration because it makes their lives easier (and more convenient), but also because they feel like they’re getting something special. If you want someone to buy from you, give them an experience that will keep them coming back for more!
Making sure you consider the right technology solutions to enhance the customer experience
As a retailer, buying the right technology solution to deliver the right customer experience is a big decision.
Today’s consumers are increasingly shopping digitally first, then going into stores with technology playing a key role in helping them choose what they want before they buy it. By having the insight using technology retailers can deliver added value through personalisation while also gaining valuable insights into their customers’ preferences and behaviours based on aggregate data insights from across channels: demographic information such as age-group; consumer footfall analysis, engagement with shopfront signage etc, all to allow you to optimise the digital experience for your customer in-store.
Integration
The application of mobile apps and physical retail guiding technologies can help consumers navigate their options and decide which solution suits their needs. Technologies such as Ombori Grid, EVERYANGLE, G2K and meldCX, to name a few, are already helping service providers and retail stores easily leverage omnichannel retail, visitor management and customer experience data to personalise product recommendations and in-store services.
Choosing the right technology to enhance the in-store experience can be a daunting one for some, when they are considering the way forward. The key to what you choose is making sure it delivers the experience to optimise sales and also provide you the insight to allow you to evolve this experience.
In addition, the digital experience should be seamless and ties back into your physical space.
These two things are crucial because they create a consistent experience across all channels and touchpoints, which makes the customer feel like you’re paying attention to them no matter where they are or how they access information about your brand—and that ultimately leads to higher conversion rates.
A high-quality experience outcome
The benefits of experience applications and physical technologies are clear for those committed to high-quality customer engagement. It rapidly delivers increased customer engagement, loyalty, footfall, revenue, and productivity.
Customers need to be able to interact with a store via Web, mobile, voice, touchscreen, or gesture, among other options. It could be an interactive digital kiosk solution, enabling consumers to easily access product information such as in-store location (wayfinding) and requesting a product solutions expert for a demo. All of these applications together, with the insight from IoT devices such as cameras, sensors, smart speakers, mobile phones and even customer smartwatches, will give you a full insight to the customer journey.
Combining apps and devices in innovative ways allows business owners to create unique experiences and identify bottlenecks in customer journeys.
Getting the right insight
To get the most out of your physical space, you need to know how customers are interacting with it. In the past, this was accomplished through data collection and analytics in two separate places: digital and physical environments. Today’s integrated analytics allow retailers to gain an understanding of their customers’ behaviour across all channels—physical locations, mobile devices and digital properties—allowing them to use that information to optimise every aspect of their business.
Retailers need tools that can collect information from all of their sources (including third parties) so they can analyse it for customer analysis insights such as:
- How often do shoppers visit my store?
- What are the behaviours behind these visits?
- How much money do they spend when they enter my store?
- How much time is the customer spending in my store?
- What does the instore customer journey look like?
- Do I have enough digital signage?
Conclusion
A key takeaway from this article is that the digital experience is transforming your physical space. The physical experience will be enhanced by the digital experience and vice versa.
The customer journey is key to the success of your brand and optimisation of sales. As consumers become more comfortable with engaging digitally, retailers should make sure their physical stores provide an experience which meets or exceeds their expectations for online shopping experiences. To achieve this, they need to engage with organisations and technology to provide the right digital experience, allowing you to get the ongoing insights you need.