With the pandemic fiercely constricting the traditional brick and mortar retail stores across the country, retailers now seek a new hybrid/omnichannel commerce. The “new normal” forced the entire sector to think out of the box and come up with innovative shopping strategies. In a way, Covid-19 brought about both opportunities along with threats.
Digital transformation for the retail segment is no longer an optional measure; rather, it is a bare necessity to sustain among the e-commerce giants. Along with the operational transformation, these players also need to rethink their strategies to fine-tune their customer journeys on the online platforms.
Large businesses were no strangers to changes in operations. They also underwent enhancing existing levels of digitized business models followed by the added Automation component in the daily process flows.
Seeking The Digital Innovations In Retail
As the economy passes precariously through the health turmoil, there is a growing realization that the hybrid structure is the future for the retail industry. This is aided by the complementary nature of both offline and online channels of business. Even small business owners are now adamant about establishing an online market presence via websites/apps.
There is also the widespread adoption of digital payment mechanisms among local retailers to enable a smoother transactional experience for customers. Indian customers have accepted mobile wallets, QR code scanning and related e-payment possibilities with open arms. They can also leverage the same payment options to play in online casinos like Asiabet – where they can find the most trusted poker sites in India.
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Digitization among the local retail players has also improved accessibility levels by raising consumer awareness on leveraging the possibilities of technology adoption. As a result, the average Indian consumer now desires a more personalized and curated experience from retail brands. They expect to be delighted at every stage of the sales process.
Companies are now leveraging marketing and sales campaigns extensively via Social Media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. The weekly offers, introductory bonuses, to discount coupon codes are now a common sight provided as ads by local retailers. With analytics reports provided by these platforms along with third-party tools, companies now rely on data-driven insights to measure the efficacy of their digital marketing campaigns.
The online shopping market has undergone an even steeper climb in the past year, fuelled by the pandemic and global lockdown situation. This has immensely contributed to the growth of India’s retail segment that makes up around 10% of the country’s GDP and 8% of employment. Digitization has thus necessitated the need for upskilling the existing workforce to improve productivity in the post-Covid era.
In the Customer Experience segment as well, retailers are initiating innovative, technology-driven campaigns. Employees also need to be reskilled in new ways of engaging prospective customers so as to execute these campaigns. Candidates with proficiency in Artificial Intelligence/ Machine Learning (AI/ML) technologies are in hot demand due to this reason. Check out the guide to machine learning in retail to understand the ever-increasing prominence of AI/ML in the retail domain.
Big Data management technologies are employed to collect data being captured in batches and in real-time. Using data visualization and business intelligence suites, the data scientists generate insights. Based on the insights obtained from the data analysis tools and methodologies, the IT departments of retail players can fine-tune their campaigns to create maximum impact among the target customer base. At the same time, on-field sales personnel are provided training in agile methodology to offer customized shopping experiences to end customers.
Direct To Customer (D2C) business model is gaining significance as retail players realize the increasing need to connect with customers directly. This aspect is fuelled by the stiff competition among retails during the pandemic. Raising customer awareness of the brand and attracting their attention and e-commerce strategy is necessary to succeed in these testing times.
Another emerging trend in recent times is the prevalence of self-service outlets to facilitate social distancing. The concept is termed BOPIS (Buy Online Purchase In-Store). Another similar method is the BOSS (Buy Online and Shipped To Store). Shop owners use Retail Beacons to collect customer data for demand forecasting and buying behavior. This will also help them in seasonal planning on inventories and procurement of goods from product vendors.
Final Thoughts
Customers are now getting used to consistently making purchases online instead of visiting the traditional brick-and-mortar alternative. The convenience of getting a wide variety of products under a single website or application is gaining wide appeal among the Indian customer segment.
From an employee perspective, retails prefer those with niche skills in cutting-edge technologies like AI/ML as the retail market as a whole is now fuelled by data-driven decision-making more than ever before. Embracing the digital transformation strategy along with setting up a hybrid online and physical store is the game-changer in the foreseeable future. This will minimize the need for real estate and boost customer reach via social media, especially in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, where huge untapped revenue potential exists!