Blog, Expert Talk

Achieving limitless growth through Boundaryless Retail

Say you sell two variants of a product, at two different price points. The variants are from two different brands, A and B. Both are similar, except for the choice of colours. The choice of colours available at Brand A is different from, but also compliments, that of Brand B. A shopper walks in and is seen moving along the aisles that contain both the brands.

Which brand will the shopper choose? How can you tap into the zero-moment shopping syndrome of the customer?

The old school believes that customers buy, after they like something, be it that of impulse or planned shopping. It considers customers as evolved decision makers. And sure, customers are, when they shop for something higher up the pricing ladder.
The new school looks at things differently. According to it, customers buy, then love their purchases. This is not to say that customers are irrational animals; they are not. The ‘rational’ side is firmly in control, until the customers come across an offer that they cannot refuse. Then the shopping instinct - the one rooted in the animal side - jumps in.
The trick is to appeal to, and kindle, this animal side.

'Why do customers buy what they buy?’ is overrated.

The truth can’t be simpler. The urgent question before the modern retailer is not ‘why do customers buy what they buy?’ Rather, the urgent question is ‘when does a customer buy into a shopping experience?’
It is worth remembering that a customer’s shopping journey starts much before they visit a retail outlet or an online portal. The customer's shopping behaviour then is not a single button that can be toggled on and off by the retailer.

On the contrary, it is a series of small switches, each of which must be individually toggled by the retailer at different touch points along the shopping journey.

These touch points could range from offers advertised on e-commerce websites, shared on social media, pinged to their mobile, pushed to their mobile app and so on. The customer is thus primed towards an SKU, even before they ‘formally’ begin the purchase process.
The customer's thinking faculty is overridden by the shopping instinct. They are, in other words, a switch-away from swiping the card at the POS terminal. This simplifies the work of in-store promotions (or, online offers).

Welcome to the world of boundaryless retail!

Retailers world over are waking up to the new concept of boundaryless retail. Boundaryless retail is retail as it should be: spread beyond the confines of a physical outlet or an ecommerce site. In here, the oppurtunities for growth are limitless. But this necessitates that retailers break their boundaries.

So, how do retailers break their boundaries?

By embracing an omnichannel strategy. Put simply, the omnichannel approach empowers retailers to seamlessly access all the ‘small switches’ that govern every shopping decision of a customer.
Surprisingly, this is easier than how it sounds 🙂

All that a retailer must do is to choose the right retail technology provider. The right vendor should be an industry-expert, and must have formidable experience, in enabling retail growth through technology. Like Qwikcilver.

Qwikcilver is an industry leader in enabling retail business growth through gift cards. Our gift card program, QwikGifTSx enables retailers to provide a seamless omnichannel experience. It does much more. So much more. Check it out here