OPINION: Are you being served?

The funny and fickle world of retail is probably the industry most affected by the technology revolution. Who would ever have thought that shopping with the girls in town would become obsolete?

Well not quite, but you know that something is going wrong when retail premises are in constant turnover or they just sit empty. Is this the end for high street retail? Well no I don’t believe it is, however, I do believe that retailers have got to stop fighting digital and start embracing it. They have to realise that they are no longer in competition with neighbouring shops. They are in competition with every shop in the world. 24/7. So what are the smart ones doing? They are realising that it’s not just about having a website. It’s about the experience; it’s about making life easier and more enjoyable. It’s about delivering an experience that they couldn’t get on their own.

I love concept stores. Apple was one of the first to deliver this well and now we see many others following. But along with concept stores there needs to be digitally enabled sales staff, with tablets that broaden the shopping experience. “I love that but do you have it in other colours?” And “what do you suggest I match it with?” Now in the old world that sales experience all depended on how good the sales person was. In concept stores, you can now open the global wardrobe to each and every customer by the flick of a page on a tablet. You can match various different accessories; you can even show the customer which celebrities are also wearing their style. It’s purely limited by the retailers’ imagination. And does this work? Well labels like Burberry and adidas think so. And to have all that as you stand there, purse in hand. What’s not to like?

But what about the brands that can’t afford swanky concept stores? Well there are some pretty innovative things going on here too. Office Max – an office supplies store. It introduced a simple ‘check-in’ strategy that asked its customers for their email address, in exchange; every time the customer refilled their ink cartridges at the store and checked in they got an offer. Result basket sizes went from an average of US$45 to an average of $115 during the promotion and store traffic saw a lift of over 10 per cent.

So digital doesn’t have to mean the end of high street retail, what it can do is radically enhance the customer experience. The world is changing and that includes retail.

I will leave you with this. I love this idea more than anything I have ever seen. Why? Because it’s so simple and it taps into my direct need. Before I explain think about all the gadgets that are out there enticing us to do things and then rank them like this: function, application or enablement.

Many ideas are purely functional and we ask ourselves “What does that do?” Then you have the application and you ask, “Why do people use this” and then you have the enabler, ah yes, it helps you do something more easily. And that is exactly what Woolworths in Australia has come up with. A shopping enabler for those like me who are time poor and have a memory like a fish for the basic things in life.

Imagine, you’re standing in your kitchen, finishing an email, trying to eat some toast and you reach into the cupboard to make some tea. Last tea bag. Note to self, buy more tea and hope you don’t forget.

Not any more. All I now have to do it scan the tea box with my mobile and that exact tea packet goes onto my shopping list. And I can either take that list with me when I next go shopping or Woolworths fulfill my list and they deliver it to me when I want it. Brilliant.

Am I being served? Absolutely.