The digital in retail blueprint…

As companies continue to construct digital marketing strategies and plans, one area that still remains embryonic is the use of digital in retail.  The question that retailers are asking themselves is how to use digital to augment the retail experience.  There are several axes as to how brands and executives are viewing the problem.  Many come at it from a point of view such as:

• it’s a way to reduce costs (i.e. eliminate some personnel)
• it’s a way to capture customer data (CRM and other thoughts that tend toward big data…)
• it’s a way to control inventory (back office tie in with suppliers)
• it’s a way to innovate (it’s the next shiny object)
• it’s not (yet) relevant

Certainly, digital is not necessarily right for all brands and/or outlets — and certainly not yet.  There are plenty of back office benefits to using digital tools and platforms, including internal communications, inventory movement, etc.  However, first, the real question that marketing managers and business executives need to be asking themselves is:

• what’s in it for my customer? {Click to Tweet!}

In other words, what value added services can a brand/store provide to surround the base product offer.

The customer journey

Brands and retailers should orient their line of reasoning around the customer experience and, therefore, the customer journey.  Herewith is a new infographic, created with help from Renaud Ramaud and Antonio Meza (artist).  This infographic focuses on the different ways that digital can be used in retail.  The customer journey is broken down into six segments:

1. in the vicinity
2. at the shop window
3. in the store
4. in front of the product
5. payment
6. customer service

Digital in Retail Infographic

Below the image (jpg), you will find a link should you wish to download and/or share the PDF!

4 keys to implement successfully digital in retail

For retailers looking to inject digital into the consumer journey, several elements must be taken into consideration before investing:

1. What objectives are you wishing to achieve and how will you be able to measure against that target? {Click To Tweet}
2. Evaluate the technological platforms and, when launching, scrupulously test and learn to avoid unfortunate bugs. {Click To Tweet}
3. Don’t underestimate the human factor.  The staff will need to be brought in as partners with the requisite training. {Click To Tweet}
4. Integrate the full team into the development, including IT, marketing, CRM, customer service, retail personnel and HR. {Click To Tweet}

If you’d like to read more about digital in retail, I created another infographic, The state of digital in retail or “digitail” here. — I note that in this post’s title and in the past, I have referred to Digital in Retail as digitail.  I recently met the people who trademarked the term in Europe: Human-Inside.  So, herewith, a hat tip to Ludovic and his team.  Kudos.  I’d also like to give a hat tip to Barry Bourbon (@Gensler) and Dan Shust (@Resource) who did a great presentation at SXSW2013 entitled “Retail Rewired.”