Contrary to what everyone feared a decade ago, the digital channel does not compete with physical commerce. On the contrary, both have become inseparable, as the Covid-19 crisis has clearly revealed. It also highlighted the urgency of making them cohabit even more closely. Each channel must therefore participate in the performance of the other and stop existing in silos. The quest for a unified business is on!
Digital is taking over... What's next?
The pandemic has led to a very significant acceleration phenomenon in the transformation of many sectors, and especially retail. While some retailers are currently in great difficulty, others, on the contrary, took advantage of this particular moment to set up essential digital solutions in record time: e-commerce site, click & collect, drive... Devices that allowed them to limit the losses associated with the closure of their network of physical stores... Devices that allowed them to limit the losses associated with the closure of their network of physical stores.
Thus, shopping options combining on, and offline experiences have multiplied and are continuing. What now seems obvious is that a brand can no longer stick to only 1 or 2 siloed distribution options. He needs to make himself as accessible as possible.
And while some brands are now choosing to invest more heavily in the digital circuit, such as Zara, which plans to inject 2.7 billion euros into its digital tool, all analysts agree that physical commerce is not going to disappear tomorrow. On the other hand, it will have to change profoundly.
Available on the web, visible in store!
This retail revolution requires a perfect mastery of commercial codes as well. We what Offline. And, to make this essential link between physical and digital, digital signage will make it possible to build a seamless customer journey. On in-store screens, brands thus share their social media content, but also the favorites of their customers posted on Instagram, for example. From a place of sale, the store thus becomes a place of life, entertainment and especially experiences.
In this context, the showroom concept will inevitably be accentuated. More and more stores will limit their stock and offer their customers to try on the items, but to order online. This is what the Canadian technical clothing brand Canada Goose has already implemented. In its stores, the customer can test his outfits in real conditions in a cold room before ordering them on his website. He thus comes out of the store empty-handed, but his purchases made!
And this model is not the monopoly of big fashion brands. Thus, Saint-Maclou has recently invested city centers with a small store concept in which consumers cannot leave with their goods, but come to touch samples, scan them via an RFID chip in order to visualize them in 3D in the universe of their choice, or even to match them virtually with other references in the catalog.
Post-COVID, innovation continues and accelerates
This convergence of distribution channels will boost innovation and creativity within brands. Especially since there is a real need to reinvent ourselves and the current crisis is accelerating this phenomenon. The generalization of teleworking will inevitably have an impact on the number of visitors to points of sale and while confinement already seems far away, barrier gestures are more relevant than ever. Faced with consumers' legitimate fears of coming to stores, retailers are organizing. Leroy Merlin offers a contactless pick-up service outside the store. Brico Dépôt and Castorama add the possibility of pick-up by drive in the car park, when Seat and Ford deliver cars directly to customers' homes on request. Finally, at the time of the end of lockdown, Jacadi initiated the booking of appointments in stores for secure and personalized shopping.
This crisis finally presents itself as an opportunity to finally succeed in the unified retail that we have been talking about for so many years. To do this, brands must ensure that the strengths of each sales channel serve the performance of all. No more compartmentalization between physical commerce on the one hand and digital distribution on the other. Retailers must organize a permanent ping pong between the two that will serve omni business and therefore their performance.
To improve the brand experience of your customers, you can invest in digital marketing but also in digital tools in stores, such as digital signage for retail. Screens are one of the multiple channels that can help you deliver your messages with power and impact. Contact us to get a free demonstration of our intuitive and collaborative digital signage solution.
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