We live in times of revolutionary changes in the field of technology. Society is becoming more digital and ready for innovation. Shopping habits have changed, the Internet has played a huge role in trade and constantly sets new trends.
To meet the expectations of the modern market, it is crucial to provide the highest quality customer service. Currently, it is strongly related to technology, the consumer of the 21st century likes technological innovations that make it easier for him to buy products.
Phygital is a combination of two main sales channels – stationary stores and e-commerce. It has been observed that before going shopping, customers first look for what they need on the Internet and then go to the nearest point of sale to finalize their choice. It is not uncommon for consumers to order a product in a store to see the product live and then make the right purchasing decision.
This combination is a response to the fact that customers, despite the great interest in online shopping, increasingly appreciate the possibility of buying in a traditional way. This is especially true when it comes to selecting groceries. According to the latest global YouGov Realtime Omnibus analysis, also taking into account the Polish market, still the majority (60%) of consumers from around the world prefer to buy food in the traditional way, choosing from store shelves. In Poland, this percentage is even slightly higher and amounts to 63%.
Despite the ever-growing popularity of e-commerce, the traditional channel is still strong. Retail chains are increasingly encouraging customers to start their “shopping journeys” online, including dedicated mobile applications, but finalize them already in physical stores. Online sales still remain an important channel, but the activities of retail chains, including the constant increase in the number of stores and their formats, prove that traditional sales are still a priority.
The new generation expects quick purchases – the phenomenon of “phygital” only confirms it. New consumers no longer want to wander around shopping malls all day long, instead they search for specific products on the web and come quickly to buy goods in the store. It’s one thing to see the product live before making the transaction, and another thing is that you usually have to wait 2-3 days for the product to be shipped. When shopping stationary, we get it right away.
In order to provide our customers with fast shopping, it will be inevitable to invest in self-service checkouts. It is also a great solution for people who feel uncomfortable during conversations with cashiers. More and more stationary stores offer such a possibility, probably in a few years it will be a standard in retail. The sooner we decide on this, the greater the chance that the purchase of a self-service checkout will “return” us with more sales.
In addition to enabling a quick, maintenance-free purchase, it is worth paying attention to e-commerce in a stationary store. The customer has the opportunity to see and touch the product, and then, thanks to online shop, independently check its availability in other locations and order the selected product to a given shop or directly home. This way, a stationary store is increasingly becoming a kind of showroom.
In the fitting room we will also meet a lot of technological innovations, incl. intelligent mirrors that can recognize our emotions with the help of special sensors. The RFID system identifies the clothes we measure. Thanks to special labels, finding the required size or color of the item we choose takes only a moment.
An innovative technological solution used in stores is also the NFC technology, which allows you to assess whether the product has been picked up from the shelf. When the sensor disappears from the display, the customer receives additional information on his smartphone about the viewed product, encouraging him to buy.
Retail of the “tomorrow” consists in creating an entire IT system combining stationary and online sales, mobile technologies, customer service centers and digital marketing. In the stores of the future, the virtual world merges with the real one. New technologies are not only shopping facilities here and now. It is also the collection and ongoing analysis of data on behavior in stores. This allows for a better arrangement of the commercial space and continuous adaptation to the needs of customers.
By studying retail trends, we can better adapt the store to the contemporary needs of consumers. Ergo Store has been designing commercial spaces for many years. The accumulated knowledge and experience helps us to create stores of “tomorrow”.
02.05.2024
The project in the capital of Austria is a monobrand store located in the Auhof shopping center.
