In the new retail era, how can offline stores integrate with online integration?
In this era of mobile Internet, online shopping has brought a huge impact to traditional offline physical stores. Shoppers can easily compare products, check reviews, and get better prices and more choices. At the same time, the impact of the epidemic has also accelerated the growth of online consumption. In the face of fierce competition from online, the traffic and sales of offline stores have declined, and the operating costs have risen, and it is difficult for a single offline model to meet the increasing demand of consumers.
In order to survive and develop in the new retail era, offline stores must be integrated with online channels to achieve integrated online and offline operations. By integrating online and offline resources, it can provide consumers with a seamless shopping experience. Merchants must integrate various resources, including manpower, logistics, technology, etc., establish an integrated online and offline operation system, realize the sharing of inventory, orders, and customer data, strengthen online and offline marketing linkage, and provide consumers with a consistent brand experience.
The traditional advantages of offline stores
Despite the huge impact of online shopping, brick-and-mortar stores still have their own unique advantages. Offline stores can provide consumers with an in-person shopping experience. Consumers can actually see and touch the product, and more intuitively understand the texture, size and other details of the product. For some products that need to be tried on, offline experience is particularly important.
Offline stores can provide on-site manual services. Salespeople can answer consumers' questions, provide professional shopping advice, and even personalize the match. This kind of user-friendly service, which is difficult to implement online, can enhance the shopping experience of consumers.
The display layout and decoration atmosphere of offline stores can also create a pleasant shopping atmosphere for consumers. The flagship stores of some well-known brands have elevated the shopping experience to a lifestyle level.
It can be seen that offline stores still have unique competitive advantages in terms of shopping experience, manual service, and physical atmosphere. However, a single offline model can no longer meet the increasing needs of consumers, and must be integrated with online channels.
The benefits of online and offline integration
The integration of online and offline can provide consumers with a seamless shopping experience. Consumers can first browse product information online, check reviews, and conduct a preliminary screening of the products they are interested in. For products that require physical experience, you can go to the offline store to see for yourself. If you are satisfied, you can buy it directly in offline stores or place an order online.
For merchants, online and offline integration can achieve channel diversification and expand sales channels. Offline stores can leverage their own experience advantages to provide value-added services to consumers, while expanding sales through online channels. By integrating online and offline resources, you can improve operational efficiency and reduce costs.
For example, merchants can establish a unified inventory management system to achieve online and offline inventory sharing. When the online inventory is insufficient, the inventory of the offline store can be directly allocated to avoid losing sales opportunities. At the same time, online and offline orders and customer data can also be shared, laying the foundation for precision marketing and personalized services.
The integration of online and offline can also strengthen brand marketing. Merchants can conduct online and offline linkage marketing campaigns to provide consumers with a consistent brand experience. For example, if a discount is launched online, consumers can cash it out in offline stores, or if a new product is launched in offline stores, it can be promoted online. Through online and offline synergies, brand awareness and reputation can be improved.
The integration of online and offline can maximize the advantages of each, provide consumers with a better shopping experience, and bring more business opportunities to merchants. This is an inevitable trend in the new retail era.
The key to achieving online and offline integration
To achieve online and offline integration, the key is that merchants must integrate various resources and establish an integrated online and offline operation system. Specifically, the following needs to be done:
Integrate human resources
The integration of online and offline requires a professional talent team. Merchants need to train or introduce talents who are familiar with online operations and be responsible for the operation and promotion of online stores. At the same time, the sales staff of offline stores also need to be trained to understand the concept of online and offline integration, and master the skills to provide integrated services to consumers.
Integrate logistics resources
Efficient logistics and distribution is the foundation of online and offline integration. Merchants need to establish a logistics system covering online and offline to achieve efficient inventory allocation. At the same time, it is also necessary to provide a variety of delivery methods, such as online orders can choose express delivery or offline store pick-up.
Integrate technical resources
Online and offline integration requires strong technical support, including a unified order management system, inventory management system, customer relationship management system, etc. These systems need to realize the sharing and seamless connection of online and offline data, and provide technical support for integrated operations.
Integrate marketing resources
Merchants need to develop an integrated online and offline marketing strategy to carry out linkage marketing. For example, you can promote offline store activities online, or promote online discounts in offline stores. At the same time, it is also necessary to establish a unified membership system to realize the sharing of online and offline member data, and lay the foundation for precision marketing.
Integrate brand resources
Whether online or offline, businesses need to deliver a unified brand image and value proposition. The visual design and service concept of online and offline should be consistent to provide consumers with a seamless brand experience.
To achieve online and offline integration, merchants need to integrate resources in an all-round way and establish an integrated operation system. This is a systematic project that requires continuous investment and effort, but it is essential for the long-term development of the business.
Case study of online and offline integration
More and more businesses have begun to experiment with online and offline integration. Take the clothing brand Uniqlo, for example, which has done a pretty good job of blending online and offline.
UNIQLO's online store not only provides complete product information and reviews, but also supports try-on services. Consumers can choose their favorite products online and try them on in offline stores before deciding whether to buy them. If the offline store does not have the right size or color, you can also place an order directly online.
At the same time, UNIQLO also launched a "scan code try-on" service. Consumers only need to scan the QR code on the product label to view the details of the product, size recommendations, etc. on their mobile phones, which greatly improves shopping efficiency.
In terms of logistics, UNIQLO has realized the sharing of online and offline inventory. Consumers can choose to have their orders delivered to their home online, pick them up in offline stores, or even return online orders directly to offline stores.
UNIQLO has also established a unified membership system, and online and offline member data is shared. Members can not only enjoy online and offline discounts, but also accumulate collection points and get more benefits.
It can be seen that UNIQLO provides consumers with a truly seamless integrated shopping experience by integrating various online and offline resources. This model not only improves operational efficiency, but also enhances consumer stickiness, which is beneficial to the long-term development of the brand.
brief summary
In the new retail era, offline stores must keep pace with the times, integrate with online channels, and integrate resources to maximize operating benefits, in order to be invincible in the fierce market competition.
Although offline stores have unique advantages in terms of shopping experience and manual service, a single offline model can no longer meet the increasing needs of consumers. By integrating with online channels, it is possible to diversify channels, provide consumers with a seamless shopping experience, improve operational efficiency, and reduce costs.
To achieve online and offline integration, the key is that merchants must integrate various resources, including manpower, logistics, technology, marketing, branding, etc., to establish an online and offline integrated operation system. This requires ongoing investment and effort, but is critical to the long-term development of merchants.
We've seen that brands like Uniqlo have made good strides in terms of online and offline integration. It is believed that more and more merchants will join this ranks in the future to jointly promote the development of new retail.