With this guide we would like to clear the fog around omnichannel using practical examples, completed with useful tips to arm your store for the future.
Retailer’s margins have been under pressure for years. One of the main causes is the increasing competition of online stores. Their market share has increased to 10%, in some sectors even 20%. Does that mean an increase of empty shop-premises? Is there no future for ‘brick-and-mortar stores’?
Of course there is. A web store has nothing on the customer-friendly service of a cosy boutique or on the extensive personal advice of a specialist store. This is still indispensable for a great number of customers. Most people really enjoy shopping for a day in shopping streets or in a shopping centre. As a retailer you cannot deny that more and more customers start their search on the internet. There, all information is within reach: pictures, prices, descriptions, references, accessories, etc. This results in fewer visitors in your store. How many times have you been asked whether the information was available on your website?
The future is for the onmnichannel retailer: physical stores that offer their products online, give customers online information about stocks, prices and promotions and that give customers the option to choose between home delivery or collection in the store. In short: retailers that succeed in perfectly linking their online and offline sale channels and who offer the customer the same information and benefits through every channel.
With this guide we would like to clear the fog around omnichannel using practical examples, completed with useful tips to arm your store for the future.
Peter De Ranter, founder of IT Company Prosteps and Tilroy (Aartselaar), has been active in the retail sector for over 15 years. Prosteps has done a great deal of pioneering work concerning online and offline store management. This guide wants to clear the fog around omnichannel retail. Furthermore it wants to provide the physical retailers with the necessary insight to give their business more strength in the future.