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The first signs of economic recovery have amplified even more the ancient dilemma for those operating in the sector.
That is to focus on physical retail or gradually abandon it and aim everything on the online channel?
In this period we often hear the word omnichannel being abused, in other words is the ability of a brand to express its potential through direct sales points or online sales or a mix of these two channels.
There is no recipe and safe solution, but rather the ability to interpret the desire of one’s customers while being aware of the potential of one’s brand
It is not so rare for us, at XT Retail, to meet customers who ask us advices to open single-brand stores.
As in the past, but even more today, if belonging to a workshop and not born as a pure retail brand, the risk of making a flop is very high.
Working on retail, today, is very complex and needs a staff introduced in the sector to open and manage the sales point.
Therefore, it is not possible to improvise on this channel if all the necessary preventive analyzes, geomarketing application checks and a feasibility study on the sales objective of the store or chain have been made first.
Our position is quite clear, in this moment as in the past, to keep the business on physical retail we need to fulfill some strategies, including:
1. The study of geomarketing and therefore the opening of sales points only in highly strategic location.
2. Closure of sales points in negative conditions for the next three years.
3. Offer a service to customers through new social networks processes allow the store to maintain direct contact, as well as the ability to entice the final consumer to go to the store.
4. Investing in sales staff by training in the sector with a serious and structured teaching methods.
These and other solutions are the minimum requirements to implement considering the difficulty of the moment for all professionals as to stop or slow down the exponential growth of sales on the web.
The online sales represent an irreversible system, above all if neutralize what social networks have already been doing for some time that is reducing human contacts.
The online market certainly involves commerce, but it removes the human aspect, whenever romantic, of a store.
The parallels of the negative effects between online sales and the foolish use of social media are quite evident.
There is no doubt that a consumer today, in particular if he belongs to a target customer under 40, suffers the charm, as well as the fashion, of buying through the web platform, not considering the advice or contribution of the sales staff.
This is clearly also influenced by the fact that the prices of online sales are cheapest than offline sales, which in a time, like this post-pandemic, weigh even more than in the past.
In order to give physical retail the possibility to continue to survive, everyone must play their role.
1. Governments must try to bring the multinationals of the web back to a fairer and more sustainable level of competition through a tax policy.
2. Retail companies must capitalize on the unfortunate experience of the last decade of numerous senseless openings, creating an offer that is much wider than the demand and needs of consumers.
3. As regards the brands operating in the wholesale channel, they must give multibrand chains the possibility for commercial offers and products at more competitive prices.
4. And finally, we need a policy and a reform of the employment that allows companies to have lower operating taxes and a cost of employees according to the economic situation of the country.
With this assumption, we would like to consider the current summer period in the retail world, considering that online sales are growing exponentially and it is certainly not interesting at this stage to dedicate some time to read them?
According to our skills and our customers, what emerges is very evident and simple at the same time.
Many are adapting to digital activities, trying to provide a series of ideas and elements of curiosity to attract the customer into the sales point starting the courting long since remotely to conclude it within the sales point.
The creation of Whatsapp chats with loyal customers, managing Facebook and Instagram pages are now on the agenda within the main tasks of 2022 store managers.
Thanks to this, the so-called “full price” sales points, are slowly and hardly, resuming their activities, while, and this confirms the above, it is the outlets that begin to report decidedly positive results, thanks to a very aggressive pricing policy and in line with the economic availability of consumers.
That said, there remain nothing but await the sales results of the sales that is the first commercial test, a keyword interpretation of this scenario.
by Paolo Zanardi XT Retail
by AN shopfitting magazine no.164 ©
