Page 40 - RLI September 2019

RLI RETAIL INSIGHT

Merging the Online and

Offline Shopping Experience

In our Retail Insight this month, Julian Fisher,
CEO at jisp takes a look at how retailers can look to
adapt their approach and ensure vital sales in these
challenging times in order to survive.

he current division of the high street and online namely information which in itself provides the shopper with
shopping experience is compelling customers ‘confidence’, together with all the advantages of a high street
to decide between making a purchase online or store – the means to sample, try and experience the product.
Toffline. This siloed approach to sales might not be Through the provision of digital information whether fixed via
the best way for retailers to go about things owing largely a podium and a large touchscreen monitor or an app which
to the high street’s instrumental role in driving online sales. can be accessed on a customer’s mobile phone, the ability to
For a large number of retailers, their high street stores are learn what they need to make the purchase there and then.
beginning to act as a showroom to which a customer visits to However, should they decide not to purchase the item from
experience a product. Later, this then enables them to make a the store and later, say from home, go to the store’s website,
decision as to whether they go back to the store to purchase I would argue that the sale should still be attributed to the
the item or go online to gather more information and view a physical store. It is my view, shared by many store managers,
wider product range. With the high street store playing such a unsurprisingly, that sales should be assigned to the place where
pivotal role in online sales, isn’t it time retailers merged the two the customer made their initial enquiry. And if this is not achieved
channels to their benefit and that of their customers? through programming, customers can be asked the question
‘where did you first see the product?’. For example, if a customer
AN INTEgRATEd AppROAch goes into a store to enquire about and try on some items, but
There has long been the concept that online and offline then uses the retailer’s website to make the final purchase, the
retailers must compete against one another for business, even sale should ‘belong’ to the store. This is owing to the fact that
if they are, in fact, part of the same company. By pitting the it is where the purchase originated and where the necessary
two against each other, the high street has long fallen short information needed to influence the decision was derived.
and struggled to keep up with online retailers and the merits Again, it is only my view, but retailers must start to ask
of high street stores have been forgotten. Yet, while online questions where the business came from, where the customer
retailers continue to see increased growth, there are several saw the product and where they got the information and
aspects of the retail experience that can only be provided by inspiration from to buy it in order to correctly identify the
bricks-and-mortar stores, such as smelling, touching or tasting impact bricks-and-mortar stores have on online sales. I think
items. Therefore, with the majority of retailers in possession they will be astonished by the results.
of both a high street and online presence, it is in their best
interest to merge the two so online and offline activities aren’t WhAT dOES ThE fUTURE Of RETAIL hAvE
viewed as disparate entities challenging one and another. IN STORE? (pUN INTENdEd)
In the near future this is something we will begin to see Within the next two years, we will begin to see more
as retailers begin to use their online platforms as a tool to and more companies exploiting the fact that they are
encourage consumers to try and buy instore. By using online a merged business. As the online and offline shopping
mechanisms, stores can provide all the benefits of online, experience become unified, high street retailers will use their
stores to focus on creating better shopping experiences
and opportunities for the consumer, so that when they
do come to the store, a larger percentage will buy rather
than just browse. This can be achieved largely through the
implementation of new technology to provide product
information and the use of AI to offer customers a more
personalised shopping experience. With this change in
strategy, online and offline will be seen as one and the same,
and whether consumers buy in the store or through the
retailer’s online presence will make no difference.
In my opinion, the phrase ‘the death of the high street’ will
also cease to be used as online and offline stop competing
against each other. Instead, we will talk about an ‘adjustment
of the high street’ as it adapts to the changing ways in which
society shops and retailers take a more holistic approach.
With the two channels no longer vying for the same sales,
high street stores will be able to focus on getting customers
back into the store by improving the customer experience
and thereby increasing sales, whether they are made instore
or via their online platforms.

40 RETAIL & LEISURE INTERNATIONAL SEPTEMBER 2019