December 2018

Retail 4.0: Digital Transforms the Mode of Shopping

Mobile strategy

The digitization of shopping experience in Retail 4.0 is an opportunity for brands to redefine the relationship with their customers. Thanks to mobile technologies, in fact, they can simplify and enrich the user journey.

In store, there is a possibility that before making a purchase we may decide to take a look and see if that book we like so much or that shirt in our size and favorite color is also available online (perhaps at a cheaper price).

With digital transformation, the opportunity to search for product information online, compare prices on various ecommerce platforms and finalize your shopping comfortably seated on your sofa, has redefined, and is still redefining, the purchasing habits of consumers in a more dynamic way and interconnected manner.

The scenario

A survey of Politecnico di Milano and Nielsen conducted by “Osservatorio Multicanalità 2018” describes a complex and articulated scenario. In Italy there are over 35 million individuals who use digital and the internet in different phases of the buying process in the multi-channel optics, starting with, for example, an activity on the facebook page of a brand, to continuing on the website or directly in-store.

The study shows that 53% of Italians look for information on the internet, and then physically buy the product in-store, while 48% search for information in the store, and then finalize the purchase on ecommerce sites. (Source: Nielsen – Osservatorio Multicanalità 2018)

The new figure in the retail world

The expression Retail 4.0 summarizes the new shopping habits of consumers, where online and offline become complementary dimensions, outlining even more hybrid purchasing paths. In this context, brands have the opportunity to rethink and enrich the store experience, thus establishing a direct and personal relationship with their customers.

Digital is like electricity: it is an invisible enabler that allows you create products, services and experiences that in some cases integrate with existing ones, in others just replace it. (Philip Kotler, Giuseppe Stigliano: Retail 4.0; Mondadori, 2018).

Technology makes experiences unique

Companies are adapting to both changes in demand and the market: developing processes, business models, innovative products and services in phygital mode by combining digital with physical experiences. Mobile technologies support this, creating completely new dynamics, with the objective of improving performance from both an organizational and a commercial point of view. But not only.

Through tools such as apps, bluetooth devices and web platforms that allow you to operate in a contextual and geolocalized way, you can profile customers, get to know their interests and their behavior(s), making each purchasing experience, online and in store, a unique and personal event.

Send an invitation to visit your store when the user is nearby, offer a discount coupon on their favorite product or even, request feedback following a purchase made at the store. Planning these actions in an integrated way allows you involve customers directly to their smartphone when it is most relevant.

Shops of the future for cities of the future

Adopting new strategies and offering more services that consumers would not find elsewhere through new technologies, which are also accessible to small and medium-sized businesses, makes it possible to develop synergies in the territory where they belong.

The stores of the future shapes the city, making it an active space whereby, through digital, citizens, institutions and businesses collaborate to provide services and information at the right time. This is the case of the Natural Shopping Centers, city shopping circuits, concentrated in certain districts, which not only contribute to enhance the offer of local businesses, but also the perception of the city itself.

Read about “Proximity Loyalty becomes reality thanks to NearIT and Domec”.