Digital retail: go digital to boost your sales!
In 2018, Carrefour announced the closure of 273 shops, and in 2019 more than thirty hypermarkets are on the verge of bankruptcy. How can superstores compete against online retail giants like Amazon or Alibaba?
With digital transformations and the COVID crisis, the retail sector is undergoing drastic changes. How can we avoid missing the boat?
Digital retail could be the answer.
Digital retail: definition of retail 2.0
Retail is an essential sector of commerce. It organises the activities involved in selling goods to the end consumer in your distribution channel. Products are sold in small, medium and large shops and points of sale (shopping centres, supermarkets, hypermarkets, small shops).
Competing with the e-commerce sector for several years now, retailers have had to adopt new strategies in order to satisfy the desires of increasingly demanding customers.
In short, digital retail is when digital devices (smartphones, kiosks, interactive shop windows, etc.) are brought into a physical shop to enhance and improve customer satisfaction, but above all to boost your company's sales.
The challenges of digital retail for retailers
Digital devices can be used to showcase your shop's services and products, offering optimum strategic opportunities for your point of sale.
Showcase your shop's new products and promotional advantages
A digital device such as a connected window display or interactive terminals has the advantage of distributing new products, services and promotional offers to your customers at the click of a button. And because they're so easy to use, these gadgets immediately attract the attention of customers, who flock to them to find out how they work.
Send out clear messages and adopt a specific design depending on the department where the connected terminals and other gadgets are located.
Going digital is one thing, but adopting trendy, connected tools that appeal to your target audience is even better!
Distribute a variety of information
Today's market no longer operates in the same way. It's no longer up to the customer to go to the salespeople for information. The customer's first reflex is to get information on their smartphone before making a purchase. Don't give them the opportunity to look elsewhere, and provide them with an intelligent digital communication system (mobile application or website) to answer even the smallest of questions quickly.
This way, your sales staff will waste less time and be able to concentrate on more important activities, and your customers will be more than satisfied.
According to a study by IFOP, 70% of French people will be paying attention to digital screens in 2021, so make the most of it!
Improve your brand image and stand out from the competition
As well as making your products and services more attractive, going digital at your point of sale will set you apart from the competition on the market.
Revitalising and modernising your store certainly requires a certain amount of investment, but customers will be flocking to your doors if you make the right changes. With attractive connected windows, for example, new customers can become interested in your products. Your customers will feel involved and will appreciate your efforts by being loyal over the long term.
All these elements contribute to a positive brand image and are guaranteed to increase your sales.
The benefits of digital retail for your customers
Personalise and simplify the shopping experience
Today, technology and the use of customer data are key to personalising the shopping experience.
By ticking their preferences, customers are likely to discover products that are closer to their consumption habits. Personalisation means becoming more relevant and more effective.
To improve your knowledge of your customers and better meet their expectations, find out about :
- purchasing behaviour
- consumer preferences
- your customers' habits.
By feeling more involved, customers will maximise their purchases, which is a plus for your sales.
💡 Adopting an app to simplify your customers' purchases can also prove very useful. Customers are looking for two things: speed and efficiency. By providing them with a fluid, intelligent platform, they'll be tempted to make further purchases if their first experience went smoothly.
Adopt frictionless commerce
The term friction includes all the obstacles that hinder the consumer's progress when making a purchase:
- waiting to receive their order
- unclear information,
- too many customers on the shelves,
... all elements that frustrate customers and drive them to look elsewhere.
Digitalisation has made it possible to create a frictionless retail experience that is all the more effective thanks to :
- mobile payment, which eliminates the need for customers to go to the checkout,
- omnichannel deliveries or collection points (drive, click and collect),
- dematerialised checkout and payment (fast checkouts),
- AI for better data processing.
Amazon recently developed its first checkout-free shops: Amazon Go!
Enjoy better customer service
As you'll have realised, digitalising your shop doesn't just happen at the point of sale.
Optimistic customers lead to maximised growth!
By making the necessary changes to your website, but also to the various digital tools such as kiosks in your shop where your customers can quickly get information if they have a problem, is the promise of increased sales. This is what we call e-care.
Customer service is the last image you give to your customers, and it's the one thing you mustn't neglect if you want to build long-term customer loyalty.
Here are 4 tips for optimising your digital customer service:
- Manage omnichannel customer experiences (website, chatbot, etc.),
- Develop self-service with online FAQs,
- adopt proactive communication (sending notifications),
- improve and diversify your social networks.
What are your tips?
Article translated from French