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How brands can keep traditional retail store alive avoiding digital disruption

09 Luglio 2018

How brands can keep traditional retail store alive avoiding digital disruption

It's not a breaking news that digital is changing the meaning of retail. In the last ten to twenty years a lot of industries, ranging from encyclopedic informations to photography, have been completely reshaped by digital innovations. These industries taught as that digital disruption deeply threatens traditional activities and business, even the most tested and long-established. And retailing of course is not an exception. Both online and in brick-and-mortar retail store, business are offering more relevance and convenience than ever and competition seems to primarily lay on price. Now the main question is: how should retail customers experience change in the digital era? Is it true that brick-and-mortar retail store are destined to die?


We don’t think retail is destined to die, but it need to change in order to stay alive and relevant. The starting point to fix this painful topic, is that as an entrepreneur or retail manager, you need to place more attention on value delivered to customers. And with value we don’t refer just to the showcased products you sell for a certain amount of money. So how could you convey more value to costumers? First you need to understand what value is about, and where your customers place it: success of strategies depends on the value customers, and not companies or brand, place on their features. You need to constantly question yourself if the features of your store and of your business are still appropriate for consumers. Value is something deeper and intimate than products, and it includes customers’ care, brand image and managing an innovative and eclectic costumers’ experience.

 

WHEN YOU RUN A STORE, VISUAL MERCHANDISING IS EVERYTHING. FIND OUT OUR 4 REASONS TO INVEST IN A VISUAL MERCHANDISER EXPERT.


This is the time where entrepreneurs and retail managers have to invest money to engage with consumers and it require create positive and personalized impressions. To win competition against online store, you need to commit your efforts in everything but products. For this reason brands are asked to develop new and uncontested strategies to grab customers’ attention. Nowadays both online and offline, we are all in the business of attention and the plenty of sellers active on the market caused loyalty structures to corrode. Here you can find 4 main tips in order to stay alive against digital disruption:


1. BECOME AN EXPERT


To perfectly know your business and your products could become an important competitive advantage. Customers can rely on your competences and come asking for advice and/or informations. Delivering the brand’s know-how is something more difficult to do online. So think about it as an opportunity to differentiate yourself.

 

2. BUILD AN EXPERIENCE INSIDE THE STORE


In the last decade the store is become more than just a place where to buy products. It have to be the cathedral of the brand, where customers can touch products, verify information and most important verify the “why” of a brand, why it exists and what values it shares with customers.


3. CREATE GRABBING WINDOW DISPLAYS


Window displays is the first place where brands can convey their message and the first touch point you have with people as a brand. In other words, it’s where customers’ journey starts. Creating grabbing window display have to be at the core of your strategies: without people entering your store you cannot keep alive the brand’s promise you want to communicate and all the others touch points become useless if you don’t have people inside to serve and care about.


4. PERSONALIZE YOU SERVICE


Serving customers is one of the features where you can easily stand out from competitors. You just need the will and the commitment to do it. An effective service must be customized and personalized because every customers could have different needs to satisfy and place more or less importance among the features of your customer’s service. You need to have clear in your mind what matters to them.
In conclusion, retail store is now more important than ever. It’s a great opportunity for brands if they know how to leverage it, and the perfect channel where companies can exceed costumers’ expectations at many different levels.

 

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