Apocalypse Retail? Or The Changing Role of the Store
It’s a retail Apocalypse, the sky is falling!
Over the past couple of years countless articles have been written about the retail apocalypse that is driven by the changes that Amazon has implemented in the retail industry. Amazon has redefined how customers shop, how purchases are fulfilled, and they might also redefine the in store experience. According to Total Retail, “This year, more than 12,000 stores are expected to close, while 50 percent of the 1,200 shopping malls across the U.S. will close by 2023”. Those are eye popping and scary statistics if I am a legacy retailer that grew up with brick and mortar, and was late to the game on digital and e-commerce.
The In-Store Experience
In response to the market disruption, legacy retailers have responded by investing in technology, acquiring technology companies, and revamping their existing retail stores to operate as key customer engagement centers and supply chain hubs to support the changing role of the store. Of course, Amazon is not staying flat footed opening several Amazon brick and mortar stores, and acquiring Whole Foods. However, the in store experience that companies like Target are pioneering include: “Remodeled stores play music and there are more displays, a dedicated 'trend spot' near the entrance that gets new merchandise every four to six weeks. The beauty department got a makeover, with space where customers can try out products or get help from a beauty expert”. Target has also paid close attention to customer feedback on store remodels, “After customers said they liked the room for nursing mothers at one location, all newly remodeled locations will get one”. Target is not alone, as many legacy retailers are forging a similar path to use their store footprint to their advantage.The key question is how to leverage technology and the existing store footprint to enhance the in-store experience.
Place Your Bets
With almost limitless options but finite budget, a retailer will need to place their bets on which technology to invest in, and how to use the existing store footprint. However, what works for Walmart may not work for Target, and what works for Target may not work for Kohls, so in most cases retailers need to chart their own course. This typically means a retailer must rely on their own data to make decisions, which places analytics at the heart of the strategy and tactics for the store of the future and long term survival.
Analytics Platform of Choice
In the end selecting and deploying the right analytics platform can be the difference between growth and bankruptcy. This type of heavy decision requires a heavy duty analytics platform, and there is no better choice than Qlik. There is a reason over 1,100 retailers place their bets on use cases like Store Performance, Digital Consumer Analytics, Supply Chain Analytics, Market Basket Analysis, and many more. We invite you to take a good look at Qlik to optimize the changing role of the store!
