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Understanding the terms of engagement for in-store technology
Paul Chapuis, founder and CEO of OnQ and Converge Retail, says all too often, in-store retail technology is treated as a check-box item. But simply dropping a few flashy screens into a retail shop without a clear plan of how they will enrich the customer experience and measurably impact the retailer's business is a short-sided approach.
November 5, 2019
By Paul Chapuis, founder and CEO, OnQ and Converge Retail
It's an exciting time to be in the retail space. Facing unprecedented pressure from the rise of e-commerce, some retailers are successfully reinventing themselves to stay relevant in this rapidly evolving shopping landscape — while other, more vulnerable retailers are ceding market share to their online competitors. Sadly, some of the hardest-hit retailers are folding altogether.
Having spent decades in the retail space myself working inside and as an advisor to some of the world's biggest brands and retailers, this paradigm shift feels different. Prior retail downturns — such as the recession we faced in the early-2000s — was driven by a macroeconomic circumstance that, for the most part, applied equal pressure across the entire retail spectrum.
This latest dip in retail is different in that retail incumbents are having their core business threatened by their online competitors tempting customers with lower prices and the convenience of home delivery.
To cope with this new competitive dynamic, many retailers are bringing various aspects of technology into their stores, with mixed results. On the surface, it makes perfect sense: if a technology platform is threatening your core business, it stands to reason that bringing technology in-store will help keep online competitors at bay. But it's not that simple.
All too often, in-store retail technology is treated as a check-box item. But simply dropping a few flashy screens into a retail shop without a clear plan of how those screens will enrich the customer experience and measurably impact the retailer's business is a short-sided approach.
The key is building a digital strategy that centers on engagement. But to accomplish this, the retailer needs to clearly define what meaningful engagement looks like for their particular business. To be fair, the engagement goal for most retailers is measured in sales. So it's safe to assume that any in-store technology should support increased sales.
But for some retailers, the desired engagement can be something a bit more nuanced that simply driving sales. For example, many higher-value products have a longer sell-cycle, and consequently the engagement goal would be to simply educate customers more deeply to move them efficiently down the purchasing path. And in other cases, engagement is simply about lead generation. Service industries in particular play the long game in this respect. Rather than sell products in-store, their engagement goal is to capture customer interest and get them to agree to a future in-home sales consultation.
I've had the privilege of working closely with many brands and retailers as they consider introducing technology into their brick-and-mortar stores. Sometimes the most challenging part of the process can be getting key stakeholders to agree on a single engagement goal. Once the desired customer engagement is clearly defined, it's much easier to specify an in-store retail technology solution to help retailers not just survive in the face of online competition, but to thrive in spite of it.
