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Savvy shoppers Retail is a fiercely competitive market – on and offline – and businesses in the sector are looking for any advantage they can to get ahead of their rivals. Increasingly it is technology that is providing that, which gives resellers opportunities.
Retail continues to be a tough sector for many businesses in 2023. Retail sales volumes are estimated to have fallen by 0.3% in October, following a fall of 1.1% in September, according to statistics from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Looking more broadly, sales volumes fell by 1.1% in the three months to October when compared with the previous three months, the ONS reported. This means competition is intense among businesses, according to Steve Grainger, founder and managing director of Enigma Interactive. “Competition in retail is fierce now, for retailers online and on the high street, but smart application of well-considered technology has the potential to be a real differentiator and generate that competitive advantage,” he says. “For physical retailers, there are massive opportunities to blend their in-person and digital offerings to create a best of all worlds solution that brings the joy back to the customer experience, while for online only retailers it’s about being smart with the details to ensure that the user experience is attractive enough to get customers coming back and recommending you. It’s less about copying trends of others though, and more about
understanding just what technology can do and how it can be applied to support the business strategy and add positive value for customers. “For e-commerce-only retailers, being creative with technology solutions to offer a better customer experience is critical – because that is the only real key point of difference between vendors selling the same or similar products. There are lots of options out there to enhance the experience, curate products to make browsing easier, support to streamline delivery or make it faster, or even offer personalised products that enhance your offer.” Steve adds that retailers with a physical presence should think about using technology that will blend the best parts of shopping online with the experience of coming into a store. “A few years ago, there was a real push towards making in-person shopping an experience, but, in reality, people are there to buy things – so technology should be used to make that as easy and as fun as possible,” he says. “These solutions don’t have to be rocket science either - one of the frustrations about the high street is that, often, product lines are shorter and there might not always be the right size, cut or colour a customer is looking for. In-store tech that allows customers to
Competition in retail is fierce now, for retailers online and on the high street, but smart application of well-considered technology has the potential to be a real differentiator... “
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Contributors
Steve Grainger
Henk Ijspeerd
Simon Brennan
Nick Delis
enigma-interactive.co.uk
vertiv.com
brother.co.uk
five9.com
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