No one denies that the world of retail is changing and my questions to all retailers out there is are you changing too? Times gone by once great companies have sat on the fence too long and watched the change happen around them and realizing years too late often sending them into oblivion.

In retail today it is no different and in this article, we look at what’s changing and provide insights into what you can do to change with the consumer.

The consumer demands change:

In retail it’s the consumer that navigates the change, it is their buying behavior that forces us to deliver and as a retail business you must ensure that your brand and retail experience relates and delivers to the consumer’s expectations. If it doesn’t and or ceases to, sales will drop and your retail brand will be history.

There is a lot of talk about the online world and how retail is moving to online and the need for bricks and mortar stores is becoming less important. While there is some element of truth in this theory alot of world-leading consultants such as Micah Solomon point up that the future of retail is a mix of online and 3D retail experiences.

We must understand that humans while their behavior has changed, humans will always be human! and will continue to require that retailers provide them with an experience that matches or exceeds the experience of online or digital retail. For example, a consumer who wants a sleeping bag will most likely do background research on sleeping bags, find one that meets the specifications it needs and buy online and either pick up in store or get it delivered. However what if that consumer could do the research find the sleeping bag that met his or her needs and then visits a retail store that provided a facility to try the bag out in a freezer cooled room set up to replicate an alpine mountainside to prove that it was going to keep the consumer warm on the mountainside. How much more confident would that consumer be if they could try before they buy?

There are many ways to turn your retail store into a customer experience and if you would like a no obligation chat on how we could help you lead the retail sector please be free to get in contact to discuss.

james.fisher@zhoosh.co.nz or 021 242 6057