Omnichannel and Great Customer Experiences

Posted on August 24, 2017 by bermanevansretail

There are vital customer service benefits for retailers to move from multichannel to omnichannel strategies. Here is a very good example involving Staples.

As reported by Dave Sutton for TopRight Consulting:

“When Faisal Masud joined Staples as Chief Digital Officer in 2015, his mandate was clear: follow B2B shoppers moving online and meet their demands by doubling down on digital… and make it easy! Staples has had a digital presence since 1998 — long before many other retailers — but Masud’s ambition was to take it to the next level and create a seamless omnichannel customer experience. He knew that just supporting multiple channels for customers would be insufficient. Staples would have to be sure that all channels would connect to one another.”

According to Faisal,“The goal for Staples has been to be a unified view of the customer, where we are completely agnostic to where customers shop, offline or in the stores, on their phone or on their desktop, or through any other means, and really making sure that we personalize that experience to them.” These two charts by TopRight show how Staples did it.”

 


 

Posted in Online Retailing, Part 1: Overview/Planning, Part 2: Ownership, Strategy Mix, Online, Nontraditional, Part 3: Targeting Customers and Gathering Information, Part 5: Managing a Retail Business, Part 7: Communicating with the Customer | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

How Men and Women Use Technology While Shopping 

Posted on August 23, 2017 by bermanevansretail
Euclid has just published the results of an important study: “Evolution of Retail: The Gender Gap — How Men and Women Use Technology While Shopping.” Click here to access the report [Note: A free sign-in is required.

 

 

“Human Interaction is still a key part of the shopping experience. Technology has a place in physical retail but it needs to enhance, not distract from the immersive experience of being in the physical location. This study reveals some of the consumer experiences that men tend to gravitate toward versus women and identifies the key aspects of the retail experience that create lasting impressions on each gender.”

 

“Download the report to learn: Which gender is more likely to rely on store associates for advice and product recommendations. How both groups really feel about an associate-free store like AmazonGo. Ways brick-and-mortar retailers can use technology to enhance the in-store shopping experience. “In spite of current headlines, it does not appear that salespeople are disappearing from stores. In this regard, men and women are more similar than different. Survey respondents uniformly said they were not interested in visiting stores that do not have sales people (such as Amazon Go).”


 

Posted in Online Retailing, Part 3: Targeting Customers and Gathering Information, Part 6: Merchandise Management and Pricing, Social Media and Retailing | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Many Small Business Owners Not Using the SBA

Posted on August 22, 2017 by bermanevansretail

Too many small businesses are not using the FREE resources of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

As described on its Web site:

“The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) was created in 1953 as an independent agency of the federal government to aid, counsel, assist, and protect the interests of small business concerns, to preserve free competitive enterprise, and to maintain and strengthen the overall economy of our nation. We recognize that small business is critical to our economic recovery and strength, to building America’s future, and to helping the United States compete in today’s global marketplace. Although SBA has grown and evolved in the years since it was established in 1953, the bottom line mission remains the same. The SBA helps Americans start, build, and grow businesses. Through an extensive network of field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations, SBA delivers its services to people throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U. S. Virgin Islands and Guam.”

Given the above, why do so many firms underutilize the SBA?

Consider these observations from  Shubhomita Bose, reporting for Small Business Trends:

“While almost all small businesses require financing at some point, few are using the resources available to them. This surprising insight comes from a new survey conducted by Fundera, a small business lending marketplace. The report found 80 percent of small business owners have never set foot in their Small Business Administration branch, an agency that specifically caters to their needs.”

Click the image to read more from Bose.


 

Posted in Career Useful Information, Careers in Retailing, Part 1: Overview/Planning, Part 2: Ownership, Strategy Mix, Online, Nontraditional, Part 5: Managing a Retail Business, Part 6: Merchandise Management and Pricing | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment