Part 2 of our article series on re-evaluating physical retail opportunities focuses on several case studies of brands breaking rules on a transformative scale.
Everyone understands the traditional rules of physical retail:
But to truly capitalise on the value of physical retail in a post e-commerce world, as we discussed in part 1 of our series, you need to break the rules.
We’re not talking about disruption for disruption’s sake; instead, you should only break those rules preventing customers from experiencing the speed, convenience and personalisation they expect when shopping in an omnichannel world.
One industry that has broken the rules on a transformative scale is hospitality. A new wave of QR-code technology in restaurants, bars, and cafes has changed the dining experience as we know it. While it was forced and accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, the technology has endured because there are real advantages for customers and businesses.
Meal ordering apps, like me&u and Mr Yum, let diners order and pay for food and drinks via a QR-code on the tables. With a simple scan, customers can immerse themselves in a familiar, interactive virtual experience to explore visual menus, receive personalised suggestions, and place orders seamlessly.
The payment process is streamlined, too – me&u has made it simple to group tabs, split the bill, and choose from multiple payment methods. After all, people visit a bar or restaurant to socialise and relax, not to spend time queuing at the counter, getting orders wrong, and calculating how to split the bill.
In an industry facing ongoing challenges in hiring and retaining staff, the technology is helping businesses overcome the issues of wait times and ensure customers have an exceptional experience. With the order-to-service process streamlined, staff have more time to talk to loyal customers and provide a better experience.
So, how does this translate to physical retail?
If you really want to break the rules, remove the cashier and let people shop without human contact – that’s what Amazon did in 2018 when it introduced its ‘just walk out’ shopping experience in Amazon Go stores.
Unlike traditional physical retail, Amazon Go stores have no checkouts or cashiers. You walk in, pick out what you want, and walk out. The scan-and-go experience is made possible by on-shelf sensors that detect when a product is picked up and added to a customer’s digital shopping cart. The app is linked to the customer’s Amazon account or credit card for billing.
Other major retailers have followed in Amazon’s footsteps. Leading UK retailer Marks & Spencer recently extended its scan-and-go app across its entire network, explaining the benefits in a press release:
“Following the initial roll-out, Mobile, Pay, Go has made a huge difference to our busy customers who can buy their lunch for example in less than 40 seconds. More shoppers are opting to scan and pay on mobile over queuing at the checkout.”
Another way to reduce queues and offer more convenience for customers is with contactless try-on. Consumers can request items to try on online before visiting the store or via in-store tablets.
Again, it’s no surprise that Amazon was quick to introduce the concept in unique Amazon Style stores. The store is a showroom of fashion items, with only one of each item on the floor. Shoppers scan barcodes on their smartphones to request items to be tried on or picked up and purchased.
Retail staff explain to shoppers on arrival how the process works and then focus on preparing each shopper’s fitting room as they select items. Customers don’t have to lug around clothes as they shop or queue for the fitting rooms. Meanwhile, retail staff can focus on giving customers a more personalised service with clienteling.
Notably, the technology is intuitive and easy to use for most Generation X and Millennial shoppers, which is its target market. This fits with recent research by Bain & Company and Google, which showed how younger shoppers won’t reject physical stores, even as they use multiple channels, but have a growing appetite for tech-enabled innovations.
Mobile point-of-sale is also offering a queue-less shopping experience. Hand-held POS technology enables staff to get out from behind the counter and process customer purchases. Armed with a 360-degree view of the customer through omnichannel software, retail staff can suggest items similar to their past purchases while checking real-time stock levels to confidently service customers.
As with every technology, you can expect to see a timeline of adoption.
At the start, it will be mainly enthusiasts, aka early adopters, using it. Then, more people try it, even though the experience might not be seamless yet. As you use what you’ve learned from the early adopters to improve the experience, the technology will really take off.
What’s a real-world example of this? Imagine that every day, you line up at your favourite Mexican food joint to order, and then you wait and line up again to pick up your food.
Slowly, you notice people arriving, showing their mobiles, and grabbing a fresh meal already prepped and ready to go.
A few visits later, you notice a poster with a call to action to download the app. But it’s too much effort. Three more visits later, you are standing in line again, and more people are walking in and out, picking up what you assume are ordered from the app, but your ‘laggard line’ never seems to get any shorter.
Finally, you bite the bullet and try out the app. It’s frustrating at first to make your initial custom order, but next time, it’s just ‘order same again’ – and the penny drops.
Now you can click your ‘same again’ order on the walk to the store, grab your fresh meal, and spend more of your lunch break not waiting in a queue.
This is the experience Guzman y Gomez offers through its mobile app ordering and pick-up service. Their queues are still long while new customers flow through this evolution, but pick-up turnover is also high for people ordering through the app.
The lesson here is simple: laggards shouldn’t set the pace for your changes. There are plenty of forward thinkers ready to harness technology and break the rules if you provide them with the opportunity.
To capitalise on physical retail in an omnichannel world, you must break some rules. But one rule stays true: you should always focus first on how changes can create real value for both your customers and employees before unlocking opportunities for your brand.
Remember, you don’t have to be Amazon to create an omnichannel experience your customers will love. You can start your own disruption for a better CX with the right tech.
Interested in how Omneo can help you deliver premium omnichannel customer experiences? Reach out to our team.
