Closing the Experience Gap

maart 15, 2016

Technology in the retail sector over the years meant optimizing operations, sales, marketing, order fulfilment and logistics to work in harmony. Thanks to the digital revolution; now it has all burnt down to bridging the gap between the offline sales and digital channels; and orchestrating experiences among channels.

Mobile from being just another engagement platform has now transformed into a de-facto channel in all aspects of the consumer journey including order fulfilment, payments and loyalty. Social media has started playing a major role as well; retailers are now engaging with potential buyers to influence merchandising decisions and also make purchases. Social commerce will not only grow but thrive in the coming times. A simple benchmark could be the amount being spent by companies in their social media management & advertising budgets.

I strongly believe, Mobile Centric Omni-channel experience extended to the seamless in store experience will make the smart consumers remember the great buying experience “

The role of data was always important, but now it has become critical; thanks to the internet and its avid users now the data available on potential leads is truly “BIG” and retailers are now harnessing this data using technologies and are drawing valuable analytics and insights which help them in orchestrating the experiences across the channels. While there are path breaking innovations and buzz around Internet of things; the challenges of creating compelling experiences for customers still exist.

Disruptive technologies like augmented reality, wearable technologies and NFC (Near Field Communication) are evolving as well; and will create the next wave of digital experiences which the retailers have to take advantage.

I will talk more about current challenges and how we can turn them into opportunities in my next blog.