With 2015 approaching, and because we are all about the festive cheer here at Sugartrends we thought we’d offer you an early Christmas present.
It might not be a fancy watch or jewelry…however, we’ve got something better for you lot: a quick ride into the future.
While everyone else is counting down to Christmas, smart retailers will be one step ahead, planning for 2015. But what will be the next big challenge for the stores in the coming year? Will the consumer behaviour change as well and why? And how stores should tackle this in order to gain competitive advantage?
As seen in 2014 and in previous years, the retail industry is not just a part of an economic structure, but it also defines and is being defined by the society we live in. The consumers are becoming more sophisticated setting new requirements for retailers and in exchange the retailers are responding to these requirements by developing new forms of retailing.
As a result, this led to a more complex retail environment. In the past, retailers focused on only one type of customer interaction: physical store. However, once with the increased use of the Internet and electronic devices it has made it possible for the retailers to exploit new channels and consequently adopt a multi-channel approach.
On the other hand, by using a combination of communication channels such as websites, catalogues, email or mobile, enabled consumers to have more control over the buying process and encouraged them to spend more. Basically, customers can buy a product whenever they want via the channel of their choice
In 2014, many traditional store-based retailers have increasingly focused on electronic channels and thus, adopting a multi-channel approach. The main reason is simple: the opportunity to overcome limitations of their primary existing format, and enter new market segments.
As regards 2015, we would like to call this the year of the consumer. And as seen above, thanks to the increased use of the Internet and electronic devices the consumer will have even more power. More precisely, the consumers will expect a more familiar user experience and local pricing.
For you as a store (especially the ones wanting to sell abroad), this means that you should provide a local shopping experience by displaying the final price in local currencies, and thus allowing foreign customers to know their exact charge. Moreover, this extends to supporting different methods of payment such as credit card, debit card, direct debit or money transfer.
Availability would be the next thing that should be taken into consideration by stores. Being/selling online is not an option anymore. When you are online, you are always open, meaning that you are selling 24/7 and customers from all around the world are able to find you.
In-store pick-up finally becomes relevant. Now with so many stores adopting the multi-channel approach, it is a lot easier for the customer to browse/order online and then use the store as a pick up point. 2015 is all about being faster and more convenient.
Also, for next year stores should expect more personalization and customization. With so many shopping options, the consumers are in charge, and they know that. Consumers, now, want to know more about the product they are buying, whether it is about the product description, customer reviews or price, and they can do this by simply browsing online.
Moreover, it all comes down to offering customers what they want: options. In today’s business world, customers can choose where to get their parcel delivered to (office, home or in-store), how (gift wrapped, embossed or engraved) and when (same day, next day or standard).
The offline and online are finally turning into a mutually beneficial partnership. You don’t really need to be an Internet-only retailer to be good at electronic retailing. In fact, back in the 1990’s many Internet-only retailers failed.
Nowadays, the really successful retailers are those that actually used traditional channels (traditional format stores and catalogues) and seen an opportunity of adding an electronic channel to complement their operations (e.g. see Argos’ case, UK).
So for you as a store, in 2015 you should definitely consider of going digital, but, at the same time, try providing that ultimate user experience in-store.
And the last thing a store should pay more attention in 2015 is adaptation (it is all about being flexible).
In simple words, in order to adapt to your target market, you first need to understand the needs of that market. Understanding those needs requires tools and techniques such as social monitoring, feedback channels and many more (by using such tools, retailers can find out where their consumers want to be and why).
Luckily, all these can be done online. So if you’re in doubt whether to adopt a digital approach for next year, you should know from now that this is where the real opportunities are made. 2015 is all about cost cutting, improving quality of service delivery, more personalised messages for segmented, targeted markets and more importantly, collecting information about customers and competitors.
We sincerely hope that you find this article helpful and if you are uncertain how to move forward or have any further questions please leave us a comment below and we will get back to you. Or, alternatively, you can contact us here.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Alin Rizea – Business Development Manager at Sugartrends
