The Physical Retail Experience is Not Dying – It’s Becoming Smarter, Stronger, and More Modern
In his latest retail focused piece for Customer Experience Magazine, Ville Levaniemi discusses how the pandemic will kickstart a regeneration of the consumer’s everyday shopping experience. Drawing on the rise of consumerism, and the growing ease-of-access to products, Ville highlights opportunities of growth within the retail sector, by utilizing both the physical and online presence.
In an industry dependent on consumerism, there is a clear need to entice these consumers, attracting new business, and maintaining a loyal customer-base. With more technology constantly creating a more seamless retail experience, the growing expectations of the modern customer will continue to demand innovation, and with COVID-19, these expectations are evolving more rapidly than ever before.
Ville explores the causal relationship between consumer behaviour and the retail experience, especially how the increasing demand for digital retailing options has, and will continue to, stress the importance of the online shopping experience as an integral part of retail business.
The more harmoniously the physical and the digital experiences work together, the more opportunities retailers can create to effectively market themselves to consumers and engage with their customers.
Although consumer habits are changing, Ville argues that this does not mean the impending ‘death of the highstreet’, as has been frequently prophesied. Instead, physical retail will continue to be an important space for the industry by providing a space where customers can access expert advice, compare brands, and see added value to the purchase experience through the delivery of exceptional standards of customer service.
The pandemic will no doubt have a lasting impact on the retail sector. What we have seen, however, is the innovative thinking that has led to pioneering new businesses and transformative ways of adapting to a post COVID-19 world. Ville anticipates what we might expect in the future of physical retail as it responds to changing consumer behaviour, from the independent retailers and local highstreets to the commercial shopping centres and oversized department stores.
Find the full article on Customer Experience Magazine’s website here.
Interested in more CX-focused retail insights? We recommend:
- Forbes article by Heikki Väänänen, The Future Of Retail Isn’t Physical Vs Online, It’s Omnichannel
- Customer story of retail giant Elkjøp, Leading Consumer Electronics Industry with Excellent Customer Service
- Grabbing a copy of our eBook, The Complete Retailer’s Guide to Improving Customer Experience