Thriving In The New Normal World – Is There Hope For Brick-and-Mortar Retailers?
In this current post-pandemic landscape, it is no secret that the shift in consumer behaviour habits has been tremendous due to the whole new world of online shopping and the emergence of new retail formats.
During the circuit breaker period, folks who had firm beliefs about not buying a certain type of item online found themselves doing so eventually out of necessity and then with increasing ease.
In an average B2C e-commerce model, an online retailer is equipped with abilities like intelligent applications that have in-built consumer-preference tracking. Using algorithms powered by AI (artificial intelligence), e-retailers know what their customers are most likely to buy and which products to surface for them.
The collective data is studied and integrated into seamless business plans designed to ensure success. Guess what? On the consumer’s end, this simply translates into more shopping enjoyment for the user, encouraging them to repeat online purchases.
Fact: Today’s average retail store is not designed to compete with robust eCommerce sites. Is your brick-and-mortar retail store evolving fast enough to keep up with the needs of your customers who have grown used to the intelligent world of online shopping?
An excellent example is Miniso, who realized at one point that in order to know if their marketing strategy is working with customers, they needed to have fingertip access to information like conversion rate of purchases, where the ‘hot areas’ of the stores are and the footfall analysis of their stores. Later on, with the help of customized AI (artificial intelligence)-powered surveillance, they were able to find all the solutions required to increase their retail sales.
Quiz: How many of these do you know the answers to?
How many customers were in your store today or yesterday?
In which sections did the customers linger on most and the least?
What attracted them the most?
What are their browsing habits like?
When is the best time to stock the shelves?
What is the best display format for your goods?
Who are the store regulars, and what are their purchasing patterns like?
Who are the window shoppers, and what catches their attention the most?
Hence, as more shoppers spend online, the only way a physical retailer can survive is by providing their shoppers with a similarly (or even more) relevant and high-value customer experience.
The good news is – your business doesn’t have to fall victim to circumstances just because you’re late to the latest technology game. Instead of suffering under the mercy of the rising world of e-commerce, a winning strategy is to take the best of what artificial intelligence technology is already offering and beat the game with that. If you are a business who is ready to explore unlimited possibilities in this new era, reach out to us: https://www.retailtechnpn.com/sg/izrj
