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These upward trends are due to the new challenges and market growth that forecasts that the Asian middle-class will be 65% of the global size by 2030.
But as more consumers continue to turn to online shopping, luxury and fashion retailers worldwide face a new challenge - rapid channel proliferation. They have to present a consistent customer experience across a myriad of applications, systems and platforms ( think CRM, e-commerce, social commerce , Point of Sale, fulfilment systems, cross-channel return processes, inventory and supply chain management systems, and mobile platforms).
As if that’s not enough, every month sees new channels getting in the way of customer journeys. That’s why the past years saw retailers embracing an omni-channel approach, as it promised to integrate these behind-the-sence functionalities for a seamless customer journey across channels.
Many went for a customized solution that wrapped front-end interfaces around poorly connected applications. So the omni-channel approach served them only for some time before collapsing under the pressure of un-ending functionalities and capabilities. Business could no longer offer a uniform shopping experience across devices and
channels.
That’s where Unified Commerce comes in to solve the issue once and for all.
A Unifed commerce model us a single platform that integrates in-store, mobile and web environments. It unifies both the back-end applications and front-end experiences to provide robust data organisation and analysis. The end goal is highly optimized business operations and happier shoppers. Here are more reasons why the future of luxury and fashion industry belongs to Unified Commerce operations :
While shopping in the brick and mortar stores,buyers are increasingly becoming more
purposeful in making the most out of a shopping errand.
They expect retailers to avail most relevant products and enrich their shopping experience. So the design of physical stores needs to embrace technology systems that parallel eCommerce experiences beyond just inventory display.
72% of customers interact with only those marketing messages that are highly tailored and customized to their pain points and interests. The good news is that you can finally meet this demand using Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, retal-time sensor data, and other cutting-edge technologies to customize and unify your customer’s experience. With these solutions, you can get real-time insights about shopper’s engagement with displayed products, inventory levels going below pre-set goals, SKU’s out-of-stock conditions, and other crucial data. And the juiciest part is that they do more than just collecting the vast amount of data - they can unify them to help deliver a top-notch customer experience.
In 2020, the shrinkage was at its highest level, accounting for 1.62% of a retail business’s bottom line, translating to a $61.7 billion loss in the industry. And the loss is predicted to go higher as we recover from the pandemic, all-time high unemployment rates, buyer’s demand to engage less with store associates, and the increasing self-checkout. Similar trends have been observed in the past; the days after 9/11 saw shoplifter referrals from justice systems going up by 16% across the USA. And the 2008financial crisis witnessed an even greater increase -a 34%rise in referrals from the court systems.In fact, in the early months of 2019, about 84% of retail shops said they experienced a jump in retail theft.
That’s why it’s crucial to integrate data on inventory, customer experience, liability consideration, and loss prevention. By doing so, you can get better insights regarding external and internal shrink trends?A good example is using computer vision cameras powered by Machine Learning and ArtificialIntelligence to get real-time perspective insight sand data on shopper traffic patterns.With this system, you can understand median traffic counts, lateral buyer movement, and shopper directionality.
While the pre-COVID era saw an increase in curb-side pickups and buy-online-pickup-instore (BOPIS), the pandemic accelerated the adoption of these fulfilment trends. 33% of buyers had planned to utilize these services during the 2020 December holidays.60% of buyers planned to adopt the fulfilment services fully even after the pandemic.
But these fulfillment services tend to suffer from siloed data and a lack of communication between systems. As more consumers turn to these options, there’s an increasing demand for updated inventory data. So retailers are rushing to unify their channels to fulfil orders and maximize profits amidst this new demand. A single source of truth allows you to boost customer experience and meet them when, how, and where they desire to shop.Data across shoppers’ touchpoints and journey allow you to reinforce a frictionless and unified shopping experience in your online and physical store. For curb-side and BOPIS, this unification boosts accuracy in inventory counts, ensures sufficient inventory to reduce cancellation of orders, and optimizes staffing when there’s a spike in orders.
If you’re looking to tap into the above benefits, you need to make the transition into a single source of truth before time runs out. By the 2021, 81% of retail businesses have already rolled out Unified Commerce solutions. When deploying software that unified your customer experience, ensure you cover the following bases
Many people expect their favorite retail stores to have a mobile presence that offers more features and abilities - not just the purchase ability.
Over the next two years, 41% of shoppers plan to move online. And 64% of people use their mobile devices to search for the retail stores’ and products’ details before choosing their retailers.
Furthermore, consumers are searching, pausing, returning, and completing their journeys across channels from the comfort of their couches. You might have realized that as consumers shop in-store, they tend to take out their devices to find relevant promotion coupons or compare offerings with other shops.
Retail stores should ensure that customers resume right where they left off across channels, online and in-store.
31% of customers will walk out or log out and look for the desired item in the next store.
With one source of truth, things like “Out of stock” should be a thing of the past. Integrated selling channels bring robust and efficient inventory management.
Yes, your shipping warehouse may have run out of that unique pair of shoes, but a unified system allows you to know that it’s available at a nearby physical location.
That way, you can arrange it to be shipped to the customer or hold the shoes there for them to pick.
The impact of Amazon on shoppers’ expectations is something you cannot ignore. But a Unified commerce model can allow you to compete well with this eCommerce behemoth. With it, you can take advantage of inventory efficiencies to provide a seamless shopping experience. It also saves shoppers from the pain that comes with complex and costly returns procedures - they can now purchase from your online store and return in-store, thanks to automated self-service processes.
As mentioned earlier, customers expect retailers to provide a customized experience across their channels. In fact, 86% of customers are willing to give more dollars for an awesome buyer experience. Unified eCommerce will allow you to know your customers, their preferences, when they make a purchase, and what entices them to dig deeper into their pockets. On the other hand, disconnect systems experience missing key data connections and outdated details,leading to an efficient shopping experience. A unified system offers a holistic picture of your customer’s previous purchases , favorite platform,timing and promotion utilization. That way, it becomes easier to slash down your marketing expenditure and boost your sales. For instance, you may know that ‘customer A& willnot purchase until youthrow a 15% coupon on their way, while ‘shopper B’ will not need an incentive topay for their purchases.
The impact of Amazon on shoppers’ expectations is something you cannot ignore. But a Unified commerce model can allow you to compete well with this eCommerce behemoth. With it, you can take advantage of inventory efficiencies to provide a seamless shopping experience. It also saves shoppers from the pain that comes with complex and costly returns procedures - they can now purchase from your online store and return in-store, thanks to automated self-service processes.
Bayretail is your go-to Salesforce-Native app that helps retailers shape their business in the new normal of online shopping. With the Bayretail Unified Commerce solution, you’re guaranteed to boost your operational efficiency, time to value, service marketing agility and sales.
Business with annual revenue of $1billion can bring an extra $700 million within three years of capitalizing on customer experience. Bayretail is a cloud-firstand mobile-first software solution that will surely transform your customer experience both in-storethrough:
Boosting Customer Knowledge: your front workforce(think marketing, customer services and storesassociates) will gain the necessary and real-time customer knowledge for better services.
Unified Commerce: the mobile payment, click and collect process, access to available stock, and multi-channel order management will provide africtionless and customized shopping experienceboth online and in-store
Boosting sales and performance: use upselling and cross-selling capabilities to skyrocket the average amount of products in the carts
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