Perspectives

From The Co-Founders

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Tips, Tactics & Strategic Insights and Commentary
from The ROI Co-Founders, Pat Johnson and Dick Outcalt
Outcalt & Johnson: Retail Strategists LLC; Retail Turnaround Experts

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The Digital Clock Is Ticking. Time to Catch Up!

For retailers, the uncertainties caused by the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic are unrelenting. 

  • "'It seems that social distancing mandates won’t be the only thing keeping crowds down at businesses moving forward,' said Ted Rossman, industry analyst at CreditCards.com. 'A significant number of Americans plan to stay away on their own accord.'” 1

So, what should we do with this additional "found time," waiting for the customers? That's a question we CAN answer!

As you are sorting out how best to reopen, we encourage you to be bold about embracing technology. Not just a POS system upgrade with better e-commerce capability. There's much more that warrants your attention. 

There's a whole alphabet of resources out there, already being embraced by many: ML (machine learning); AI (artificial intelligence); AR (augmented reality), QR (Quick Response matrix barcodes). All enabling chatbots, robots, digital displays and much else to become "smarter" and more applicable. 

Consider these examples of virtual try-ons:

  • "Jewelry brand Kendra Scott adapted to pandemic-era shopping — and the temporary closure of its 108 stores — by allowing shoppers to “try on” earrings using their iPhone browsers.
  • "Etsy, the online marketplace, has a new augmented reality feature on its app that shows customers how paintings, photographs and other decor would look on their walls. 
  • "And Zeekit, which supplies augmented reality technology to brands such as Adidas and Tommy Hilfiger, is preparing to launch the world’s largest virtual fitting room, with hundreds of thousands of pants, tops and coats that shoppers can drag onto photos of themselves." 2 

 

Or this: live, interactive shopping...on a smart phone app!

  • "Danielle Li believes the live-streaming e-commerce platform she founded, Popshop Live, has the potential to make e-commerce sites like Amazon look like the Stone Age of shopping.
  • "Jamie Rivadeneira, who owns two Los Angeles stores that were shut by the coronavirus pandemic, has seen the Popshop Live app revolutionize her business to the point where she’s asking herself if she still needs brick-and-mortar stores. 'It’s hard to go back now, because now we sell to 200 people instead of just selling to one person, with the same amount of effort,' she said." 3

 

How about making your brick-and-mortar space work for you 24/7? 

  • "When you own a brick and mortar business, one of the key marketing tools you can use is the storefront window displays. Reach out to customers without them even stepping inside with the use of giant QR codes, or interactive digital storefronts." 4

 

Meanwhile, trade associations are accelerating their adoption of technology as their ability to hold trade shows is shut down. Retailers will be exposed to much of this as they participate in "virtual trade shows."

  • "But with toy trade shows and in-person sales meetings cancelled for perhaps the rest of this year and possibly longer, toy companies have had to rewrite their sales playbooks.
  • Welcome to the virtual state of play, where toy manufacturers have to learn the new rules of selling remotely to their retail accounts, during a pandemic." 5

Our view on technology is that it never can replace human judgment. Indeed, we always have bristled at Amazon's stated intent to "replace the art of retailing with the science of retailing."  

Yet we believe all this bodes very well for independent retailers. 

  • There is an ever-larger role for technology to inform and enhance your decisions, as well as affecting the retail experience. 
  • Providers of this technology will soon realize there are far more independents than there are enterprise retailers, a large, underserved market. 
  • And we expect that some of them will want to offer these technologies on a subscription basis, potentially making it even more accessible. 

We encourage you to take advantage of this time to explore all this.

There is no future in being a technology laggard. Surely there are some tools here that would be right at home in your retail operation going forward. We urge you to find out. 
 

1 Stephanie Asymkos, Americans plan to spend more in these two areas as economy reopens. Yahoo Money, July 8, 2020. 

2 Virtual try-ons are replacing fitting rooms during the pandemic. Abba Bhattarai, The Washington Post, July 9, 2020. 

3 A Live-Streaming Challenger to Amazon, Facebook: Popshop Live Gives Small Stores a Lifeline. Joan Verdon, Forbes. July 8, 2020. 

4 Five Unique Ways to Decorate Your Storefront Window Display, Holly Kemp, Manta. June 29, 2020. 

5 A Socially Distant Toy Fair: Toy Makers Learn the New Rules of Virtual Play. Joan Verdon, Forbes, July 12, 2020. 

Related Articles

  • Lead Time: Use It or Lose It!

    There's little that any of us can do to address the public health crisis of the pandemic. Its impact on people and businesses is a widespread and major jolt, akin to the shocks of  9/11 and the 2008-09 economic meltdown. 

    Even as painful and disruptive as the pandemic is at this moment, we must remind ourselves that it will subside. It's not whether it will subside, just when.

    But all of us are going to have to deal with the ensuing economic situation, and its effects on our sales, our customers, our employees. 

    These are difficult times for us all. Retailing in particular is under enormous stress. Many feel like there are no good choices. 

    But, there are good decisions. And The ROI is dedicated to helping you be able to make those good decisions for yourself. 

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    Ready or Not, New Retail Clock Is Here

    As the global efforts to "flatten the curve" of the coronavirus pandemic continue, there is another curve that is being flattened. That would be the seasonality of retail sales. 

    And this may prove to be what really defines the New Normal for retailers. 

    The customary peaks of retail spending have been flattened.

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    Time Has Run Out for "Technology Laggards"

    Independent retailers are renowned for being "technology laggards." Those days have to end!

    As you wait and worry about re-opening your stores, the state of the economy, the health and safety of your family and friends and employees, here is an idea of what you might do with some of your found time. 

    When you do re-open, be sure that you are actually in the 21st Century! Put your energy, your resilience, and your flexibility to use, focusing on improving your IT.

    The goal: When you re-open, be even better than your competition! And more relevant to your shoppers.

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    Time for New Answers to Old Questions

    See the forest, not just the trees

    Now that we've put a wrap on 2021, and before we really dive into 2022, it's time to catch your breath and reflect on where we are after 2021. 

    Perhaps like us you believe that fundamental and enduring changes have occurred; no one can operate on "auto-pilot" anymore. All of us have to learn new processes, and form new habits. What's it called? Oh yes; "embracing change." Lots of it. 

    That's why it is a very opportune time, particularly for owners, to have a very active Q&A session with themselves. 

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    It's not just the clocks that changed

    "Retail is a mirror of society."

    Yes, Daylight Savings began a couple weeks ago. But it's not just the time on the clocks that changed; the times themselves have substantially changed. 

    Followers of The ROI has heard us assert many times that "Retail is a mirror of society." As we reflect on the first quarter of 2022, we are struck by how much has changed in just those three months. And retailers must adapt – yes, again! – to this rapidly changing environment.

    Think about it. Consider the assumptions you made just a few months ago, in late December and early January about 2022. 
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    What Digital-First Brands Are Discovering About Physical Retail

    The basic definition of retailing is "selling to the ultimate consumer." 

    As you know, HOW that is done, and in what location or format, continues to change and evolve. 

    So, we were intrigued by this recent post on the Shopify Retail Blog: The Future of Physical Retail in a Digital-First World.*

    • The "retail digital-first world", of course, is either the "pure play e-commerce retailers," those who sell only online, or the "brands" (what we used to call manufacturers) who have embraced the "DTC model," selling direct-to-consumer. 
       
    • And as you know, Shopify is one of the largest platforms for e-commerce businesses. Definitely a leader of the retail digital-first world.

    To us, the blog post was essentially a wide-ranging journey of discovery(and perhaps even some new-found respect for those "physical retailers".)



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