FEATURE mers Want ow customers’ shopping habits have changed over the last five years.


In the future, I expect we will see the emergence of data persona management services. Customers will set up a profile with a trusted management service who will then share relevant information with selected retailers, allowing for instant personalisation of products and services on any website.


“All retailers, whether exclusively online or in-store, need to adapt so that they are offering a well- rounded shopping experience.”


To adapt to this shopping habit, flooring retailers should be looking for ways to add value for their customers through data. If you can demonstrate the value to your customers, they will be far more inclined to share data. Even bricks-and- mortar stores can start collecting data at key touchpoints to help get to know their customers and provide a much more personal shopping experience.


Products, Not Brands


Hundreds of years ago, there were fewer consumer protections, so shoppers needed to trust individual manufacturers or artisans to make good products. Fast forward to the 1800s and a Parisian retailer named Aristede Bouciaut (1810-1877) was credited with developing the first department store – called Le Bon Marche. Now, suddenly, products from different company brands could be compared side-by-side.


Over 100 years later, a similar revolution has happened in the digital space. Amazon is a trusted brand in its own right, as well as being the world’s biggest marketplace. Thousands of products can be compared, sorted by price, and reviewed by real customers. Unfortunately, this also means that local businesses now need to compete on price with a company based in China, for example.


Fortunately, this trend has been shifting more towards local shopping over the past five years or so. Google “near me” searches have grown by 500% year-on-year, demonstrating the appetite for more local shopping. And it makes sense ─ local shops mean you can see products, touch and feel them, and then, in the case of flooring, order what you want the same day.


Products stocked only in local stores also provide an element of ‘uniqueness’. Anyone, anywhere in the world, can own almost any online product. But local products are only available locally. Local retailers can also be more adaptable and resilient than big brands, helping them to weather crises.


I see this trend continuing, with local bricks-and-mortar businesses using online marketplaces, like DownYourHighStreet, to advertise and personalise products and services, with some customers going in-store to complete their purchase.


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By connecting online and in-store, brands can collect data, personalise product recommendations, and allow comparisons and reviews. Customers get the best of online search to find unique products, with the benefit of being able to see and feel the product before buying.


Increasing Comfortability with Ecommerce


Clearly the main trend is towards online, even where this connects to in-store purchases. And many brands have embraced this omnichannel approach, connecting various customer touchpoints to create an integrated brand experience.


Unfortunately, some brands and retailers have taken far too long to create a good omnichannel approach, leaving shoppers unengaged. With brand loyalty being as fickle as it is, customers have drifted away to other brands who can deliver on their needs.


Retailers who have clung onto their in-store business, eschewing the shift to online shopping in favour of what worked in the past, are struggling. Spending is actually up at the moment, so it’s not about customers being more cautious, it’s just that the spend is happening almost exclusively online. The coronavirus lockdown has pushed the last few holdouts into online shopping and it seems unlikely that they will ever go back.


Local retailers need to adapt, providing an online presence and delivery options. The cost of logistics has dropped dramatically over the past few years and there is now a plethora of click-and-collect options. And it is cheaper than ever to establish a web presence, whether an ecommerce site or marketplace or simply via Amazon.


“By connecting online and in-store, brands can collect data, personalise product


recommendations, and allow comparisons and reviews.”


While, ultimately, I think we will see a resurgence of local in-store shopping, especially once the pandemic is over, it seems inevitable that the distinctions between online and in- store are quickly becoming irrelevant.


All retailers, whether exclusively online or in-store, need to adapt so that they are offering a well-rounded shopping experience. This is likely to involve a mix of in-store and online and allow flooring retailers to benefit from the personalisation that customers are looking for.


www.downyourhighstreet.com www.linkedin.com/company/downyourhighstreet.com www.instagram.com/downyourhighstreet_/


Tomorrow’s Retail Floors | 15


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