How Seamless Shopping Journeys Are Reviving Physical Retail Stores
Written by Richard Wright, Managing Director, SEA, Manhattan Associates
With ecommerce projected to capture 41% of global retail sales by 2027, it might seem counterintuitive for retailers to continue investing in new and existing physical stores. Yet, retailers like Fujifilm, Sketchers, and North Face are not only maintaining their brick-and-mortar presence but actively innovating with new store concepts to better serve modern shoppers and stand out in a competitive market.
Rather than signalling the decline of physical stores, the rise of ecommerce is actually fuelling the revival of retail spaces, where fresh, exciting store concepts are drawing in consumers. This trend highlights the evolving behaviours and preferences of today’s shoppers. Retailers recognise that modern consumers engage with multiple sales channels during their buying journey, and in fact, 73% of shoppers prefer to combine online and in-store experiences. This omnichannel approach underscores the enduring importance of physical stores in a digitally driven retail landscape.
Flexible Payments
In today's omnichannel digital age, offering flexible payment solutions is essential. According to Manhattan’s Unified Commerce Benchmark Singapore, 31% of ecommerce consumers will not retry if they must re-enter their payment details at checkout. Modern shoppers expect to pay using their preferred method, whether it's a credit card, digital wallet, contactless payment, cash, or pay-by-link—regardless of the shopping channel they choose.
By providing a range of payment options, physical stores can better meet the flexibility and convenience expectations of modern shoppers. Offering popular alternative payment methods not only increases the likelihood of attracting new customers but also encourages repeat visits from those who find their preferred payment options available. Satisfying these preferences is key to fostering customer loyalty.
Omnichannel Promotions
Retailers plan and execute promotions to boost sales, attract new customers, and enhance brand awareness. However, without the right technology in place, promotions can negatively impact already narrow margins. It’s essential for retailers to focus on promotional effectiveness, ensuring these initiatives deliver the desired financial results and customer satisfaction.
Seamless integration across all sales channels is critical, as promotions should be defined once and shared consistently with unified targeting, qualification, and calculation logic. If a customer is eligible for a promotion online, that same offer should be available in stores and at the contact centre, unless it is an exclusive online deal. Yet, executing promotions consistently in-store remains a significant challenge due to the fast-paced environment.
An omnichannel promotions engine can address this challenge by providing a single source of truth for promotion logic, ensuring consistency across all sales channels. Effective omnichannel promotions are well-planned, targeted to the right customers, and executed consistently, playing a crucial role in the modern retail brand experience.
Clienteling
Modern shoppers highly value personalised shopping experiences, especially in retail segments like high-end luxury goods, where personalisation is expected. According to McKinsey, companies that excel in personalisation can potentially generate 40% more revenue, highlighting its significant impact.
For brick-and-mortar retailers, personalised one-on-one shopping experiences provide a unique advantage over digital-only competitors. By incorporating clienteling capabilities, such as Mobile Clienteling, stores can seamlessly connect all sales and service functions, empowering store associates with rich customer data to enhance interactions throughout the store.
Virtual clienteling is also emerging as a powerful tool, allowing store associates to maintain customer engagement beyond the store. Whether it's responding to product inquiries via phone, text, or email, or providing additional information to assist with purchase decisions, virtual clienteling extends the personalised shopping experience beyond the store’s physical boundaries.
In 2024, the key to effective clienteling lies in enabling store associates to quickly access and utilise customer purchase history, engagement history, and preferences. This allows for personalised interactions and tailored recommendations that resonate with customers, whether in-store or through virtual channels.
Store Order Fulfilment
Modern shoppers appreciate the convenience, immediacy, and cost savings of buying online and picking up in-store (BOPIS), driving increased demand for this fulfilment service. Simultaneously, retailers are increasingly leveraging their stores to ship orders, reducing shipping costs and speeding up delivery times.
To meet customer expectations while maintaining profitability, modern stores must excel in fulfilment efficiency, scalability, and accuracy. BOPIS not only caters to shoppers’ desire for convenience but also drives additional foot traffic and sales in stores. According to a survey by the International Council of Shopping Centres, 67% of BOPIS users buy additional items when picking up their orders.
Physical stores have evolved into multifunctional hubs within the omnichannel retail ecosystem, offering retailers a strategic way to meet growing shopper demands for speed and convenience. When optimised to handle increasing volumes and rising customer expectations, store fulfilment can significantly boost sales and enhance customer satisfaction.
Unified Returns and Exchanges
In 2022, returns cost retailers a staggering $817 billion, with 78% of shoppers finding the returns and exchanges process inconvenient, and 41% considering it time-consuming. Beyond the financial impact, returns significantly contribute to CO2 emissions and landfill waste. A March 2023 report by the British Fashion Council’s Institute of Positive Fashion, Solving Fashion’s Product Returns, revealed that in the UK, 3% of returned items are not resold—50% of which end up in landfills, 25% are incinerated, and only 25% are recycled, underscoring the environmental toll.
Unified returns and exchanges enable modern shoppers to return or exchange any item at a store, regardless of the original sales channel, including online purchases. This approach offers customers the convenience of a straightforward return or exchange process, with the immediate satisfaction of an instant refund or a new item.
By implementing unified returns and exchanges, retailers not only meet the needs of today’s shoppers in this crucial area of customer service but also reduce both business and environmental costs by minimising the need to ship returns.
