It’s the consumer, stupid!
You’d be forgiven for believing that retail in 2017 is all about technology. There is a lot of talk of the ever growing importance of eCommerce, big data, location based marketing etcetera, etcetera. There’s no doubt that eCommerce is now incredibly important and is continuing to grow at a very impressive rate across the globe, especially when viewed against the backdrop of stagnating or falling traditional high street retailing. In 2016 eCommerce accounted for 10% of global retailing. However it did grow at an impressive 20% plus in 2016 and this is against stagnating or declining traditional high street retailing. Global retail is a $21 trillion business so at 10% eCommerce is hardly small beer. Moreover the forecast is to have eCommerce take an impressive $4 trillion slice of global retail by 2020.
But all of the tech talk and impressive online sales growth is to miss the really really important point surrounding retail. The technology is only an enabler and can never be the end in itself. For example let’s put technology in perspective. 100 years ago cutting edge tech was the Model T, RCA and wireless trading rooms connecting Wall Street to the great Atlantic liners of the time. So tech moves on. And so it is for all the breath taking innovations surrounding the transaction and discovery stage of a customers journey. However the fundamentals of retail remain as they’ve always been and that’s to satisfy the consumer. The technology is incredibly important but only when it benefits the customer.
Whereas 2000 years ago, when hungry we’d head out and do a bit of gathering or if you were up to it maybe a bit of hunting. 100 years ago, we’d head out to the local grocer, butcher or baker. 50 years ago we’d head to the local super market. Now we would in all probability pick up a device.
More often than not that device is most likely to be in our pockets. But here’s the rub, the start and end of the journey is pretty much unchanged from 50 or 100 years ago. Not sure? Well then check out this interesting bit of research presented in a handy quick view info-graphic from the nice people at Business 2 Consumer (B2C) http://tinyurl.com/mxfrjmm
Like my last post it again underlines the fact that the physical is still very very important. So although the customer journey is now likely to take a circuitous route and involves a much more educated and informed individual the journey still starts with a need and finishes with a physical product. Just as surprisingly the consumer’s preference is to find the solution as close to home as possible, again just like 100 years ago. Back then it was because of transport considerations, in other words it was convenient. Well in 2017 it is still much more convenient to have the service or product fulfilled locally. It’s only when your customer cannot find the solution with you, or worse when it comes to those pesky screens cannot find you at all, that they move quickly on.
So how do you position yourself for retail success in 2017 with so much change and innovation? Our suggestion is you go back to basics and concentrate on the consumer and their journey. At COVA we have a very simple philosophy and that is the “Consumer is our North Star”. When we develop an approach or feature we simply ask does this benefit the customer? If the answer is yes then we go all in. If it’s no it gets binned. After all in our business if it doesn’t benefit the customer then it’s just a vanity, a piece of fluff and not worthy of our time and effort.
We think this is a simple criteria and one worth embedding in our culture. Because once we bought into this approach the road map became very clear. What does the customer want and how do we get it to them? When we answer those two simple questions with the customer at the centre, decisions become easier and more obvious.
The consumer habits have changed but the underlying motivation remains largely unchanged over the decades. As I outlined in my previous post the physical retailer still has many advantages over the pure play eCommerce retailers. But that shouldn’t mean you ignore the benefits having a digital presence can bring. The consumer now expects it from you. If you don’t offer it they’re off to a competitor who does. Let’s put it this way, you opened your shop due to the belief you’d get footfall in the chosen location. Well now you need to understand your customer is mobile in every way. It’s no longer just footfall it’s now about where your customers eye balls fall. The irony is that having that eCommerce presence is actually a driver of footfall. Grab the consumers screen time and reap the rewards not just online but in store too.
So if you keep your customer at the heart of what you do you’ll move to providing the solutions they demand in 2017. The consumer journey starts and finishes as it always did but the bit in between takes a little thought. It’s not difficult and the effort could see you grab your fair share of the projected $27 trillion retail sector in 2020. Hopefully there’s a little food for thought here. If there is and you’d like to discuss further give me a shout at mark@covaworld.com
(Interesting that the hunter gatherer parlance still manages to influence our modern language as the homo sapiens skills have gone from hunting for food to hunting for bargains).
At https://covaworld.com we do an out of the box solution for retail aimed at the Suppliers and Retailers allowing for close co-operation benefiting all involved. You can be up and running in 5 minutes and punching way above your weight in the most cost effective way.
http://www.business2community.com/infographics/local-seo-statistics-must-know-infographics-01557523
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