Investing in multichannel
Evidence suggests that online sales continue to grow in a market where other sales channels are at best flat and possibly declining. Customers still interact with their favourite retailers online and their expectations of what they can do and when, still increase.
Paul Mason CEO of retail systems experts, PMC states: “Despite the existence of tough times, retailers should protect their proposed investments in multichannel over other investments. And that has to be the right strategy. If you’re not doing that, your competitors will gain a serious march on you over the next year or two. The multichannel world is where customers expect you to be - so you had better be there.”
Recession or not, customer habits and expectations are evolving. They continue to use the online medium, embracing it more and more as time goes on. They are looking to retailers to enhance their multichannel offering and make it easier to shop. And it’s not just for shopping; customers expect to use your multichannel presence to access information.
“You cannot ignore what the customer is telling you,” says Mason. “We’re long past the days where we expected the high street to die. There’s an online and offline world working together. Now customers expect you to be in both places and they expect the shopping experience to be just as easy in both.”
Protect your investments in your online presence and link it to your store base
Even though multichannel is the way ahead, you could probably count on the fingers of two hands the number of retailers offering their customers a truly multichannel experience. When the ‘green shoots’ finally arrive retailers will find the world hasn’t stood still. Evolving customer expectations will mean some retailers running to keep up.
Mason continues: “The problem facing many retailers in today’s recession-hit times is the lack of a multichannel template. There isn’t a template to copy because we’re developing the template right now. Good multichannel retailers are improving the formula year-on-year so there is no complete model to copy. This can make retailers pause over their multichannel choices.”
“The investment priority is put money into the programmes that drive your business. You must have a multichannel investment strategy unless you have an incredibly good reason not to. If you have a multichannel presence or plans to build one then protect it, because your customers want multichannel. Ignore that and you don’t have a business.”
Retailers should focus beyond today. They should be ready for the upturn when it comes. Sensible retailers are thinking further ahead than surviving the current recession. They are thinking about when the demand returns and being ready to deal with it. For a great many, an effective multichannel presence is the answer.
Mason states: “If you think only about taking out cost or adopt a survival-only mentality – at best you’ll survive but perhaps you won’t. Cut anything so you can increase investment in your multichannel. Don’t be afraid to say: ‘This project has to stop so we can put money into our multichannel’. And don’t forget, there are hungry suppliers out there so the cost this year might not be the cost you faced last year.”
For further information please contact enquiries@paulmasonconsulting.co.uk |
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"During the last few months many retailers have adopted the ‘back-to-business’ mantra. This does not mean that everything in the garden is rosy. Far from it. Doubtless this will be a slow recovery that’s why the phrase ‘cautious optimism’ is most appropriate." Huw Thomas, COO, PMC
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