The Connected Store: Empowering Associates

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Jerome Singleton
5 years ago
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1 Business & Strategy Retailers are creating a smarter store fit for digital shoppers. Hunkemöller The Connected Store: Empowering Associates

2 Analysis As r eta iler s w or k to r a tiona lise stor e esta tes, p hysica l sp a ces ha v e to w or k ha r d er to offer mor e tha n w ha t customer s ca n g et online. Customer jour neys a r e b ecoming incr ea sing ly comp lex, w ith B a za a r v oice s a nnua l R OB O (R esea r ch Offline, B uy Online) r ev ea led 4 5% of a ll in-stor e p ur cha ses b eg inning w ith p eop le r ea d ing r ev iew s online, a 15% incr ea se on a yea r a g o. In cosmetics a nd DIY r eta il, the numb er w a s hig her still. This d a ta d r iv es home the p otentia l d a ma g e of thinking of offline a nd online shop p ing a s d istinct a nd sep a r a te exp er iences. If r eta iler s a r e to ma ke their stor es w or k ha r d er, they w ill need to for g e new, sma r ter connections for tod a y s essentia lly d ig ita l shop p er s, r eg a r d less of w her e they check-out.

Creating "Super Talents" Consumer s often a ssocia te the stor e w ith ser v ice: 4 7% of US online shop p er s exp ect in-stor e ser v ice to b e of a b etter sta nd a r d tha n in other cha nnels.

3 Creating "Super Talents" Consumer s often a ssocia te the stor e w ith ser v ice: 4 7% of US online shop p er s exp ect in-stor e ser v ice to b e of a b etter sta nd a r d tha n in other cha nnels. Meeting these exp ecta tions ca n, b e a fine line to tr ea d, a s consumer d ema nd s incr ea se. Geoff Wilson, b r a nd str a teg y d ir ector a t b r a nd a nd exp er ience a g ency Household ca lls " sup er ta lents" hyb r id huma n a nd AI tea ms of sma r t, emp ow er ed huma ns a cting a s a mb a ssa d or s for their b r a nd. These sup er ta lents should a im to ma ke customer s feel " mor e like enter ta ined g uests w ith a ll the w a r mth, consid er ed huma n touch a nd p lea sur e tha t imp lies, " a ccor d ing to Wilson. L a v er ne Per eir a, cr ea tiv e lea d of d ig ita l a t Da lziel & Pow sa id : Emp a thy w ill a lw a ys b e a solid found a tion w hen solv ing a ny customer need s w ith technolog y, a llow ing r eta iler s to und er sta nd a p r ob lem, a nd cr ea te op p or tunities to tur n a ny moments of fr ustr a tion into a n exp er ience w or th r etur ning for. Harvey Nichols

Combine for speed and convenience While technolog y is incr ea sing ly b eing used to p r ov id e in-stor e sta ff w ith the d eta il a nd know led g e they need to close a sa le, huma ns a r e a nsw

4 Combine for speed and convenience While technolog y is incr ea sing ly b eing used to p r ov id e in-stor e sta ff w ith the d eta il a nd know led g e they need to close a sa le, huma ns a r e a nsw er ing consumer s d esir es for p la yfulness, insp ir a tion, r ea ssur a nce a nd a d v ice. Hunkemöller w ill a lso eq uip sta ff w ith ta b let a ssista nt sa les (TAS ) technolog y loa d ed w ith its p r od uct ca ta log ue a nd a mob ile p a yment op tion. S ta ff w ill b e a b le to or d er fr om a ny stor e hold ing the stock a customer w a nts a nd a r r a ng e fulfilment. Nether la nd s-b a sed ling er ie r eta iler Hunkemöller is ta king this a p p r oa ch. Wor ld -cla ss [in-stor e] ser v ice tr a d itiona lly mea nt a w elcoming meet-a nd -g r eet, insp ir ing a d v ice a nd the kiss g ood b ye, sa ys Gijs v a n Eng elen, g lob a l omnicha nnel d ir ector. Now, our stor e sta ff a r e tr a ined to offer a sea mless exp er ience r eg a r d less of w her e our S her o (customer ) sta r ts or end s her shop p ing jour ney, tur ning them into multi-cha nnel b r a nd a mb a ssa d or s. The TAS technolog y comp lements the r eta iler s existing consumer -fa cing a p p, w hich fea tur es a n integ r a ted loya lty p r og r a mme a nd a p r od uct sca nner shop p er s ca n use in-stor e to loca te sizes a nd a v a ila b ility b oth on- a nd offline. Hunkemöller uses sev er a l tools to ma ke its sta ff a nd stor e sma r ter, such a s sma r tw a tches w hich a ler t sta ff to customer s coming in to collect b oth p r ep a id a nd r eser v ed online or d er s. Va n Eng elen sa ys: Ana lysis ha s show n tha t the fa ster sta ff r esp ond to a r eser v a tion the mor e likely the customer is to p ick up unp a id or d er s in the stor e. These d ev elop ments mea n tha t Hunkemöller ca n continue its p la ns to inv est in emer g ing technolog ies a nd ser v ices tha t connect stor es to d ig ita l shop p er s.

Deploy staff beyond the store In-stor e sta ff come a t a hug e cost to r eta iler s, so it s no sur p r ise tha t r eta iler s a r e looking a t how b est to use this huma n r esour ce.

customer s shop p ing its d ig ita l cha nnels. Ha r v ey Nichols sta ff ca n sig na l their a v a ila b ility v ia the a p p to d ig ita l customer s w ho w ish to cha t.

5 Deploy staff beyond the store In-stor e sta ff come a t a hug e cost to r eta iler s, so it s no sur p r ise tha t r eta iler s a r e looking a t how b est to use this huma n r esour ce. Ha r v ey Nichols is one of sev er a l r eta iler s using the " liv e shop p ing " Her o a p p to lev er a g e the d ow ntime of its in-stor e sta ff to offer on-d ema nd p er sona l ser v ice to customer s shop p ing its d ig ita l cha nnels. Ha r v ey Nichols sta ff ca n sig na l their a v a ila b ility v ia the a p p to d ig ita l customer s w ho w ish to cha t. S o fa r, the ser v ice is b eing used b y a mix of customer s: those w ho ca n t ma ke it into the stor e a nd w a nt r ea ssur a nce a nd style a d v ice fr om a fa r ; a nd those w ho a r e p la nning a n in-stor e tr ip a nd w a nt to check on p r od uct a v a ila b ility a nd, in some ca ses, to ma ke a n a p p ointment to meet the a ssocia te la ter in the d a y. Her o a p p found er a nd CEO Ad a m L ev ene sa ys it s a w a y for r eta iler s to p la y to the str eng ths of their sta ff. [F r om p r ev ious exp er ience] w e sa w tha t the p hysica l sp a ce ha d b een silo d a nd ther e w er e tens of millions of a ssocia tes in a na log ue stor es w a iting for customer s to come in. S o w e looked a t how w e could integ r a te ecommer ce into the p hysica l sp a ce a nd emp ow er a ssocia tes b y d ig ita lly connecting them to those shop p er s on the d otcom site. It comes fr om und er sta nd ing tha t if the customer is tota lly omnicha nnel, ther efor e a ssocia tes must b e too. F ur nitur e r eta iler s Hea ls a nd Ma d e. com a lso use the technolog y for help consumer s ma ke their consid er ed homew a r e p ur cha ses. L ikew ise, Nor d str om r ecently a cq uir ed B ev yup w ith a simila r a im. B ev yup s technolog y a llow s a ssocia tes to cr ea te a p er sona lized selection for customer s on shop p a b le S tyle B oa r d s a nd w ill b e integ r a ted into the Nor d str om emp loyee a p p to connect a ssocia te w ith customer s b eyond the stor e.

6 Give customers experiential control When in stor e, customer s a r e b eing g iv en mor e a nd mor e op tions to ta ke contr ol of how they sp end their time. UK d ep a r tment stor e r eta iler John L ew is ha s inv ested hea v ily on ma king sur e customer s ha v e a ccessib le, ser v ice-led exp er iences in its new Westfield L ond on stor e, w hich op ened this month. Visitor s ca n hea d to a n Exp er ience Desk a nd loung e w her e John L ew is p a r tner s ca n a d v ise on a v a ila b le in-stor e ser v ices a nd r eser v e tickets for customer s for in-stor e ev ents a cr oss d ep a r tments. In fa shion, customer s ca n ma ke ind iv id ua l or g r oup consulta tion a p p ointments w ith p er sona l stylists in a new S tyling S tud io concep t. They ca n a lso op t in v ia the a p p to hea r fr om their p er sona l stylists w hen new a nd r elev a nt collections come into stock. John Lewis Along sid e the technolog y inv estment, John L ew is a lso ensur ed sta ff a r e eq uip p ed to ha nd le the d ema nd s of a n exp er ientia l stor e env ir onment, b y send ing 500 Pa r tner s to tr a in w ith the Na tiona l Thea tr e comp a ny in L ond on. Peter Cr oss, customer exp er ience d ir ector, sa ys: It s a b ig inv estment on our p a r t b ut fr om it [the Pa r tner s] g et confid ence to p r esent themselv es on a n ev er mor e comp etitiv e sta g e. Quite often the a ctor s a r e not g iv en the skills they need to p er for m. S ep a r a tely, UK d ep a r tment stor e Deb enha ms is a llow ing shop p er s w ho come into stor e to collect b ea uty or d er s a cha nce to p r e-b ook a p er sona l ser v ice. The d ev elop ment for ms p a r t of the r eta iler s Deb enha ms R ed esig ned str a teg y. B ea uty is one of its ma jor ca teg or ies for r ep ea t click a nd collect.

Action points R eta il inv estments ha v e r esulted in solid systems for r unning their log istics a nd for a utoma ting much of the b a ckend of the r eta il exp er ience.

7 Action points R eta il inv estments ha v e r esulted in solid systems for r unning their log istics a nd for a utoma ting much of the b a ckend of the r eta il exp er ience. F or tha t to p a y off in the long er ter m, the consumer -fa cing exp er ience need s to b e just a s sop histica ted not just online, b ut a lso instor e. With the r ig ht technolog y, r eta iler s ha v e a n op p or tunity to meet consumer need s in the stor e b eyond just sp eed a nd conv enience. Consumer s a r e a ctiv ely hea d ing into stor e for exp er iences. While some w ill b e sa tisfied w ith little to no huma n inter a ction, r ep ea t v isits w ill a lso come if customer s meet w ith d ig ita l-sa v v y a nd ena b led in-stor e sta ff.

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