By Malaya Business Insight
If there is anything the lockdowns at the height of the pandemic in 2020 to 2022 has done positively to retail, it is the quick adoption to innovative ways to reach the market for retailers and access goods and services for consumers.
Post-pandemic, the omni-channel strategy remains a powerful weapon for retailers to serve their customers.
Roberto Claudio, president of the Philippine Retailers Authority (PRA) in an interview said while electronic commerce (e-commerce) has certainly changed the retailing landscape by offering convenience and speed and choice of delivery, it does not provide the experience of in-store shopping.
For Claudio, e-commerce and in-store shopping can go hand in hand.
Over the past years, retail has seen the use of experiential stores and augmented reality, blurring the lines between online and offline shopping.
“The future of retail (lies in) ‘being able to serve the customers in whatever way he/she wants!’ If they want to be served at home, retailers must do so in the fastest and most convenient way. If they want to go to the store, we must be able to give them the best shopping experience,” Claudio said.
He said the new retailing will see the convergence of online and in-store capabilities.
Traditional stores are now offering online capabilities. One can buy online and return in stores. Online marketplaces are starting to with pop-up physical stores and showrooms.
Social commerce and influencer marketing have also been the rage, what with TikTok and Meta providing the platform to push products and services.
According to Claudio, social commerce and influencer marketing not only heightened consumer product knowledge, they have certainly reduced the cost of advertising and promotion of consumer products.
To this, Claudio advises brands to be more reactive and honest on consumer information of their products.
With data-driven marketing, each shopper can be profiled according to his needs and wants.
Claudio said personalization or individualism has dictated product developments in practically all categories, especially in the fashion category.
To provide that personal, unique shopping experience, Claudio said have to create more stock keeping units which in turn has challenge companies’ cash flow and inventory management.
Over the years, retail has embraced sustainable practices by reducing waste. Claudio said retailers are pursuing circular sustainability through the Reuse, Reduce & Recycle initiatives. Small steps like the ban on the use of plastic shopping bags and replacing them with recyclable ones have all been undertaken by stores.
But the industry is not without hurdles on the policy side.
READ the full story HERE.
