Internet Subverts Retail Online Offline Shopping Seamless Experience

Less than P, the Internet has subverted almost every industry, but perhaps no industry has been more thorough than the retail industry.

The near global coverage of the Internet and the rapid popularization of smart phones have led to countless changes in the way we shop and the way retailers compete.

More changes will take place in the next few years. Barbara Kahn, chairman of the US retail and consumer products summit, said there are three trends that need special attention.

Her views are very close to the current domestic outdoor market.

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< p > < strong > traditional physical stores will exist for a long time < /strong > < /p >.

< p > many large retailers have been closed down (for example, book retailers Borders and electronics retailer CircuitCity). They are still struggling, for example, Toys R Us and electronic products retailer (BestBuy), because the Internet can better provide consumers with a large variety of products at very low prices.

As more and more chain stores close, it seems that we do not need so many physical stores nowadays. (do we need so much in the past?) it is easier to achieve parity purchase and repeat purchase through the Internet.

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< p > but no one thinks that the entity store will die out completely.

Local retailers (where people can taste, feel and experience products) still have its value.

What has changed is that retailers have realized that they need to try and experience activities to attract customers.

DuaneReade, a drugstore chain in New York, has divided its drugstores into three areas: the "high-end market" for instant products, the "fashion boutique" providing beauty, nail, aroma and virtual modeling services, as well as "pharmacies" which provide health advice by professionals.

All these are services that require customers to really enter the store and get experience.

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< p > < strong > Xiaobian: < /strong > < /p >

< p > now, domestic professional outdoor shops have great pressure to survive, and labor costs, rent and supply prices have risen year by year.

The latest survey shows that 70% outdoor stores cost growth of more than 10%, with 1/3 outdoor stores growing by more than 20%, which can control the shop cost by only 10%.

But in this case, the number of professional outdoor stores in China increased by 50% over the past four years, from 1422 in 2010 to 2119 in 2013.

This shows the vitality of professional outdoor stores.

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"P" is similar to the retailers that Barbara Kahn mentioned to attract customers from experience activities. Outdoor sports enthusiasts are accustomed to enter professional shops to buy clothes and equipment, even if they intend to buy online, they will first go to the physical store to understand.

Professional outdoor stores are complaining about the rising costs. When online price competition is concerned, they should consider how to put these into the store.

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Wang Jian, deputy general manager of Sanfo outdoor, believes that professional outdoor stores attract professional customers, not only to sell products, but also to help customers. P

When recruiting salesmen, Sanfo ranked the requirements of employees in the following aspects: love outdoor, love sports and be cheerful.

Only such salesmen can put their heart into it.

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< p > strong > online and offline shopping: seamless experience < /strong > /p >

P > retailers have been discussing "full channel retailing", which refers to the seamless pformation of retailers between entities and digital stores.

This is the goal many retailers dream of, but nowadays, few retailers are fully "full channel retailing" and have fully integrated all aspects of inventory, budgeting, salary and sales / procurement processes.

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< p > most traditional offline retailers also understand the necessity of developing e-commerce and mobile platforms.

Interestingly, for pure online retailers, they also consider "full channel retailing".

WarbyParker and other e-commerce brands are setting up offline exhibition rooms, physical stores and delivery trucks with brand identification.

Warby found that setting up a physical store for online sales products can produce positive synergy.

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< p > the retail industry also found that the key node to integrate all these channels is smart phones.

Smart phones will not only link online and offline, but also provide excellent opportunities for social media marketing strategies.

AliceandOlivia, a fashion design company famous designer Stacy Ben Day, has his own blog and is also active in social media.

In the final analysis, "full channel retailing" will no longer be a tool, but will become a way of existence for retailers.

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< p > < strong > Xiaobian: < /strong > < /p >

In 2012 and 2013, the biggest shock to P was the impact of online sales.

"Jingdong Festival", "double eleven" and "double 12" are in continuous succession, and this kind of festival activities are becoming more frequent.

Correspondingly, sales of outdoor products increased by more than 10 times, and camels, Pathfinder and other brands have made remarkable achievements.

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< p > outdoor brands are becoming more and more concerned about the Internet, hoping to enhance the viscosity of consumers. Brand Tmall stores, official micro-blog and official WeChat are indispensable.

But at the beginning stage, many brands can not bring many surprises to consumers. Most micro-blog and WeChat become product publicity pages and have not been plated into actual benefits.

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Pathfinder is trying P.

It not only guides the channels and retailers into the network, but also enters 9 third party platforms such as Taobao, Jingdong, Amazon and so on, and starts to set up tourism and social networking sites, so as to attract consumers, get involved in all aspects of outdoor sports and establish its own consumption closed loop.

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< p > < strong > faster online delivery < /strong > < /p >

< p > these trends have fundamentally changed the buying behavior of consumers.

Online retailers initially used free delivery and free return policies to discourage consumers and attract more people to shop.

This has completely changed consumer expectations.

Now, if they are not sure which shoes to choose, they can set several pairs at the same time and try them on in their own homes.

They can take pictures of themselves, send them online, and see how their friends react.

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< p > delivery time is also shortened.

EBay's "eBayNow" service has been trying to promote a plan for some urban areas. Whenever you want to buy goods in local stores, wherever you are, eBay can deliver it to you in an hour.

Inevitably, consumers may think that 24 hours a day, whenever they want anything, can be done.

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< p > consumers can easily search many retailers and branded products and choose from them. This also promotes consumers to mature faster.

Price sensitive consumers can search for the best price.

Mature consumers can easily learn product characteristics and search for the best product configuration.

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< p > < strong > Xiaobian: < /strong > < /p >

At present, the online sale of outdoor industry in China has just started. It seems that there is no need to consider this problem. In the long run, when consumers face different platforms, where they can get the clothes and equipment more quickly, they will affect their final decision. P

In 2013, Jingdong counterattacked three creative advertisements of Taobao's double eleven, which was tightly locked the key link of delivery speed.

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< p > outdoor brand itself has more homework to do.

Last year, before the "double eleven", CAMEL camel released the focus of double 11: ensure smooth after-sale and optimize customer experience.

To this end, camels have prepared 1 to 2 hundred million of the value of goods, advance data synchronization and upgrading of system data, upgrade Telecom broadband, to ensure that the efficiency of delivery is nearly 2 times higher than before.

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< p > retailers will not survive as consumers become more mature.

However, if a brand understands consumers, can focus on consumer needs and provide an unparalleled brand shopping experience, such a brand will continue to flourish.

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