{"id":30926,"date":"2019-12-16T09:04:08","date_gmt":"2019-12-16T09:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/?p=30926"},"modified":"2019-12-16T09:04:13","modified_gmt":"2019-12-16T09:04:13","slug":"three-ways-retailers-can-ensure-a-more-profitable-festive-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/2019\/12\/16\/three-ways-retailers-can-ensure-a-more-profitable-festive-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Three ways retailers can ensure a more profitable festive season"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Morten Illum, VPE EMEA, HPE Aruba, discusses how retailers can leverage technology to boost the bottom line this festive period. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christmas is now front of mind\nfor retailers and for bricks-and-mortar stores battling against depleting\nfootfalls and decaying consumer confidence, these Christmas trading figures\nwill be crucial. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, the high street\u2019s\nstruggle to drive Christmas sales was blamed on online retail. However, there\nis more to the story of physical versus digital than meets the eye. As we edge\never closer to the festive season, retailers need reminding that e-retail is\nnot the enemy. It is the customer who is changing the retail landscape, as\nconsumer behaviour is changing at an unprecedented rate which is creating new\ndemands and pressures for offline and online retailers alike. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, digital platforms such\nas Amazon are now looking into an in-store approach with Amazon Go, and Internet\nsales still only represent under 25% of overall retail sales, signalling the\ncontinued consumer appetite for an in-person shopping experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brick and mortar retailers\nhave enormous opportunity to leverage the distinct benefits of traditional, in-person\nshopping in ways that digital sites can only dream about. This Christmas, the\nwinners will be those who are able to transport the digital world into their\nstores in order to create convenient and memorable shopping experiences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, considering 85% of\nconsumers still prefer to physically purchase products in-person, here\u2019s three\nways retailers can use physical stores to their advantage in the digital age\nand help drive Christmas sales\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bring the\nshopping experience to life <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While traditional retail\nbusinesses based on brick-and-mortar stores urgently need to update their\nbusiness models, they also need to start recognising the unique advantages\ntheir physical locations offer \u2013 and then using technology to enhance them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After all, unlike shopping\nonline, brick-and-mortar stores can offer the possibility of in-person\ninteractions with retail staff, as well as unique shared experiences that\ntranscend traditional shopping routines. Take Virgin Holidays, which has opened\na new chain of retail concept stores, with the aim to create an immersive\nenvironment and allow shoppers to try out various elements of the Virgin\nHolidays experience. Here, customers can test-run upper class seats in the\nmock-up of a Virgin Atlantic cabin, or visit the virtual reality installation,\nwhich takes people on a \u2018rollercoaster\u2019 of global Christmas holiday destinations.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This idea of \u2018reverse showrooming\u2019,\nwhen consumers research items\/holidays online and then visit a store to try it\nout and receive expert advice rather than browsing in store and then going home\nto buy online, has been mirrored by Mango. The fashion retailers have leveraged\ntechnology to offer a similarly personalised service. Many of their fitting\nrooms now include radio frequency identification technology (RFID), which\noffers up recommended or co-ordinating items when a customer scans something. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not just about providing an\nimmersive experience, and retailers must also utilise technology to provide\nshoppers with the most convenient visit possible. With daunting Christmas\nshopping queues in mind, Zara have launched self-service kiosks, which will no\ndoubt streamline the purchase experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The more retailers can play up\nthese three elements, the more they can win back the hearts and minds of\nconsumers, using the opportunity of in-store interaction to their unique\nadvantage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Break down\nsiloes to connect shopper behaviour online and in-store<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If retailers invest properly in infrastructure\nthat breaks down internal siloes, they will be able to offer consumers a truly\nomnichannel shopping experience. Until recently, there was no connection\nbetween what a shopper bought or looked at online and their behaviour in-store.\nBut knowing who the customer is, where they are, and their preferences is\ncritical. To do this, retailers are using analytics, location, and\ncontext, and seeing rising sales as a result. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The benefits of blending online services with\nin-store operations are exemplified by the rising popularity of cross-platform Click\n& Collect options. Consumers want to shop when and where the want, and the\nadvent of Click & Collect has proven itself attractive to customers who\ndesire more flexibility from their delivery options. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This service combines the convenience of Internet\nshopping (easily comparing prices and filtering through what you want), with the\nin-store ease of collection, all the while driving people into physical stores\nat the same time. In fact, this service drives impulse buys, with research\nshowing that 24% of European shoppers make unintended purchases while picking\nup their items in store. As retailers face backlogs of deliveries in the build\nup to the festive period, this alternative option can help ensure customer\nexpectations are met. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By aligning back-end operations with front-end\ncustomer service and using technology at every step of the supply chain, the\nretail industry will start to get a single, multi-channel view of its\nomnichannel customers. This is exactly what it needs to offer the\nseamless, streamlined experience that consumers now demand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gather deeper\ninsight into stock and inventory<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tied to the above point, part of developing\ninsight into a customer\u2019s in-store behaviour includes collecting data around\nstock and inventory.\nAt present, the structure of many retailers\nfails to live up to the needs of modern customers. Stock is typically siloed and\nallocated to different pools that serve the physical shop, ecommerce, pop-ups,\nand wholesale. But this kind of approach is no longer fit for purpose in an\nomnichannel world. With growing customer demand to access any item through any\nchannel at any time, retailers need to have a precise picture of their\ninventory 24\/7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To achieve this, and ultimately increase profit\nmargins and retain customers, retailers must improve their data systems and\nmake better use of inventory tracking technology. Investing in technologies\nsuch as radio-frequency identification and electronic shelf labels will enable\nretailers to monitor stock levels in real-time, and ensure they know exactly\nwhat they have in at any given time. Not only will this avoid customer\ndisappointment in out-of-stock items but it maximises efficiencies, saving the\nretailer time and money in the long-run. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The retailers\nwho thrive during Christmas, will be those that are able to reimagine and\nredefine their stores for the digital age. If technology is embraced and\nintegrated in a way that empowers employees, serves customers and improves the\nbottom line, retailers can look forward to a profitable Christmas. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Morten Illum, VPE EMEA, HPE Aruba, discusses how retailers can leverage technology to boost the bottom line this festive period. Christmas is now front of mind for retailers and for bricks-and-mortar stores battling against depleting footfalls and decaying consumer confidence, these Christmas trading figures will be crucial. Last year, the high street\u2019s struggle to drive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":30930,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[399,602,10675],"tags":[872,111,12032,770,12033,1986,3727],"class_list":["post-30926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-more-news","category-retail","category-thought-leadership","tag-amazon","tag-aruba","tag-christmas","tag-hpe","tag-infrastructure-retailers","tag-morten-illum","tag-retailers"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30926"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30926\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30928,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30926\/revisions\/30928"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}