Retail is all about change. Formats get reimagined, in-store merchandising changes daily, departments get increased or decreased in accordance with demand or seasonality. Our marketing campaigns move and adapt with the times. If you’re in retail in you’re in the business of change. It’s dynamic, always has been.
Retail has been to the forefront of technological change too. The very first commercial installation of an elevator by Otis was in a five storey New York department store. Escalators followed soon after and became common place in the US in the early part of the 20th century. The first cash register was patented in 1883. Its development influenced the recording and management of data that had wider implications beyond retail. Retail gave us the price gun, the bar code, modern consumer marketing and even the widespread use of the computer. British tea chain J. Lyons & Co saw the potential for computers in retail as far back as 1947. So technology and change are part and parcel of retail, so what’s the difference with the new world of retail?
Well the difference this time around is the fact that the retailers are no longer driving the change and as a result no longer in control. The change is now being driven by the consumer. And yes that can be a little bit scary.
Now the big guys are working hard to catch up. Getting their messaging and branding right, across all the channels. Ensuring their on line identity mirrors their in store experiencing as closely as possible. The pure on line guys with their dynamic exponential growth don’t have these issues, or not yet at least. The poor relation it seems in the modern retail age is the independent retail sector. After all as a sector it has yet to really get to grips with the new multichannel environment. The larger chains have departments to look after ecommerce. They have the resources to manage digital marketing, social media, click and collect etc. etc. The Amazons, ASOS’ etc. only live on line and don’t need to worry about the high street physical space. The independent could easily be forgiven for raising the white flag.
But before that happens we’d like to put forward an alternative view. Our view is the physical space has a very big future. The small independent retailer has a very big future. You might not think so if you’re to believe the press and current group think on eCommerce. Almost to underline what we’ve been saying for some time now I’ve attached a link ( http://internetretailing.net/2014/04/most-uk-shoppers-still-prefer-stores-to-ecommerce-study/ ) to the latest research from YouGov concerning UK consumer insights. In brief it suggests that consumers still enjoy the act of shopping in a store. It also underlines another of our beliefs that given the opportunity a shopper likes to touch and see product. It’s no longer an either or question when it comes to Brick & Mortar or online retail. As far as the consumer is concerned it’s all just retail now. The consumer is now on Facebook, Pinterest, Tumble, Twitter etc. and they’re using it for browsing and shopping. Your customer is much more likely to believe a person they’ve never met over you when it comes to reading product reviews.
Your consumer is now browsing, researching and shopping on their phones and tablets. Are you digitally invisible or will they find you where they are looking? As a retailer you need a digital strategy. Your customers are living in a digital world so it makes sense for you to inhabit that same world. Sound scary? Well it really isn’t. When you strip out the big words and tech speak it really comes back to basic retail. The rules don’t change that much, it still comes down to service, convenience and product. This brings me back to our main point which is the physical retailer will trump the online only retailer every time. If you back up the shop with the eCommerce site your consumer can choose to do business with you in many more convenient and varied ways than they can with Amazon or ASOS. We are shameless in our support for independent retail and their suppliers. We favour the diversity, personality and passion of the independent over the larger chains or online only guys. The future is unwritten, it will involve change, but rest assured if you embrace it the future is brighter than you might currently think. Embrace the technology and use it to win, after all isn’t that what retail has done in the past ?
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