The retail paradox.
What is different in the digitization of retail ?
If you are reading this, you most likely work in an organization that is on a digitization path. This will mean different things to different companies and the path to get there will surely be different, but I would suggest that the end goal is to improve business by leveraging new technologies: improve operations, improve planning and improve customer experience.
For retailers and their suppliers this is fertile ground, and the opportunities seem endless. One of these opportunities turns our traditional thinking on it head. I call it the retail digitization paradox.
Traditional brick and mortar stores. have limited physical space, so the goal of merchants is to meet customer expectations by placing the products customers are looking for, in-front of them on a shelf. Making a customer shopping experience delightful by choosing the products on behalf of a customer. Products the consumer knows she wants and products that she might not know, but with the appropriate merchandising will find she needs.
So the game is to limit the assortment, by negotiating with suppliers for the right product at the right place, and finding the right shelf to put them on, ensuring the product is replenished, never to be out of stock.
Step into the new world of retail, where brick and mortar and eCommerce are now one. The opportunity with digital channels is that there is no limit for shelf space. The game is exactly the opposite, give the customer the largest possible assortment.
This requires the merchant to change their approach to negotiating with suppliers. The merchant now wants to sell everything the supplier has to offer, the complete catalog. This requires prioritization into what we call the Head of the assortment, and the long tail. Where to spend time and money in ensuring the most relevant products are displayed to a customer.
Here we get to Data Quality. In this new digital retail world Content is King. With a limitless aisle, a shopper must be able to find the product they need, Search is powered by content. A shopper needs to understand the product, know that it meets their needs, this information is provided through content. A shopper needs to be attracted to a product, once again this is achieved through Content.
Whether shopping online or in a store the need for correct, complete and relevant content is everything that moves a shopper to a decision.
Selecting a product out of an assortment that contains a multi-million options changes the way merchants select and setup Items and the shoppers find and buy the products they consume. This is driven by Product Content, attributes about a product that entail everything from supply chain dimensions to video and images.
Brands and retailers that understand this and understand the changes to business processes and where to invest marketing and product development funds to create and syndicate high quality product content will be successful, others not so much.
If you are reading this, you most likely work in an organization that is on a digitization path. This will mean different things to different companies and the path to get there will surely be different, but I would suggest that the end goal is to improve business by leveraging new technologies: improve operations, improve planning and improve customer experience.
For retailers and their suppliers this is fertile ground, and the opportunities seem endless. One of these opportunities turns our traditional thinking on it head. I call it the retail digitization paradox.
Traditional brick and mortar stores. have limited physical space, so the goal of merchants is to meet customer expectations by placing the products customers are looking for, in-front of them on a shelf. Making a customer shopping experience delightful by choosing the products on behalf of a customer. Products the consumer knows she wants and products that she might not know, but with the appropriate merchandising will find she needs.
So the game is to limit the assortment, by negotiating with suppliers for the right product at the right place, and finding the right shelf to put them on, ensuring the product is replenished, never to be out of stock.
Step into the new world of retail, where brick and mortar and eCommerce are now one. The opportunity with digital channels is that there is no limit for shelf space. The game is exactly the opposite, give the customer the largest possible assortment.
This requires the merchant to change their approach to negotiating with suppliers. The merchant now wants to sell everything the supplier has to offer, the complete catalog. This requires prioritization into what we call the Head of the assortment, and the long tail. Where to spend time and money in ensuring the most relevant products are displayed to a customer.
Here we get to Data Quality. In this new digital retail world Content is King. With a limitless aisle, a shopper must be able to find the product they need, Search is powered by content. A shopper needs to understand the product, know that it meets their needs, this information is provided through content. A shopper needs to be attracted to a product, once again this is achieved through Content.
Whether shopping online or in a store the need for correct, complete and relevant content is everything that moves a shopper to a decision.
Selecting a product out of an assortment that contains a multi-million options changes the way merchants select and setup Items and the shoppers find and buy the products they consume. This is driven by Product Content, attributes about a product that entail everything from supply chain dimensions to video and images.
Brands and retailers that understand this and understand the changes to business processes and where to invest marketing and product development funds to create and syndicate high quality product content will be successful, others not so much.
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