What if we spoke about the pillars of retail ? As we know, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a lasting influence on consumer buying behavior, by accelerating already existing trends. All of this has been accompanied by major changes in the retail world : omnichannel strategies, personalization, boom of online shopping, CSR... So, as we go back to , the question arises: what makes a good retailer in 2021? Here's an overview of best practices.
The absolute necessity: omnichannel strategy and unified commerce
First comes the omnichannel experience. The retailer must offer a unique, more fluid value proposition and shopper experience, regardless of its sales channel (physical, digital or hybrid). To succeed in 2021, this criterion is crucial.
On the other hand, with the drop in store traffic caused for a time by the pandemic, the concept of unified commerce comes into play, which is nothing new, but is exploding. It brings together multi-channel (use of several communication channels, including physical and online) and omnichannel (interconnection between all channels to provide a seamless experience). Unified commerce is the ultimate goal for a retailer in 2021: to offer an identical shopping experience across the entire shopping journey (click & collect, click & delivery, drive, e-commerce, drive-to-store...), from product availability, and logistics, to checkout.
"The pandemic has drastically changed consumers' shopping habits: being able to have an omnichannel vision of their shopping habits is a must for a winning CRM strategy in 2021", explains Benoit Mouret, Head of Product at Spaycial.
Every good retailer's duty: CSR
There are no more exceptions and for good reason: a good retailer in 2021 must develop its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to adapt to the quest of shoppers to align their values with their purchases. This can translate into three types of action :
- Circular economy models, i.e. giving the possibility to recycle certain materials as Darty does, offering second-hand or refurbished products, or developing models for renting goods.
- The company's ethics, particularly with regard to the origin of raw materials and the working conditions of the people involved.
- The fight against waste and programmed obsolescence.
Hyper-personalization and in-store experience
Last but not least, consumer expectations are increasingly high. Being a good retailer in 2021 means adapting to these new consumer habits. Personalizing the experience as much as possible allows you to quickly differentiate yourself from the competition. The trend is no longer mass market, but hyper-personalization. Putting payment data at the heart of your strategy responds to this issue. It is inherently omnichannel, allowing you to understand your consumers' behaviors: preferred customer path, purchasing habits, etc.
Mastering transactional data and implementing a true CRM, constantly enriched and updated, allows you to better anticipate purchasing behaviors, and therefore improve customer service. Indeed, payment data is first-party data, a key information directly provided by shoppers and with their consent, hence the interest in controlling its collection and processing. Benoit Mouret finishes :
"Spaycial acts for buyers and retailers, who become able to identify the entirety of purchases, whether made online or in-store, to have a 360 view of users with a clear vision, inside and outside the store chain".