Omnichannel retail starts in the store:why brands must train their retail partners
By Enrico Giubertoni
Trusted by
Worldline
Alba Leasing
L'Erbolario
3M
Omnichannel retail is the only experience that gives the customer a global, fluid and linear interaction across physical and digital channels: from the first search online to the purchase in the store, and on to the later experiences of repurchase, retention, upselling (a higher-value product) and cross-selling (a complementary product).
Your customers already shop this way, because they are used to this kind of experience and understand it in advance: they reason as if it were already real. For them it can already be done, because the potential of the internet allows it and because other brands do it.
An example: the red shoes the store does not have
A customer walks into a shoe store and wants a specific model in red. The store has it only in blue. On their own initiative, the sales assistant suggests trying the blue pair to check the size and buying the red pair now: in two days the shoes will arrive at home, or in the store.
What does the customer gain? They check that the shoe fits and they receive the colour they wanted, without leaving empty-handed. Today augmented reality systems also let them see the shoe already on the foot, in the colour the store is missing.
This service already exists in stores owned by brands, and Apple already offers it. It must also reach franchises and other points of sale. In China the smart retail model makes it a formula consumers are fully used to.
This leads to the point of the article. The assistant can make that offer only if they know how. So the weak point is rarely the technology: it is the store, and in particular the digital skills of the people who work there. For this reason the most concrete form of digital innovation in retail is the digital training of the points of sale.
Franchise network or independent shops, their preparation decides the success of the brands they sell. A brand that wants consistency across channels must invest in retail marketing training, the one that integrates the physical and the digital experience in the way the customer expects.
In my view brands should take responsibility, now, for the digital preparation of their commercial partners, meaning the stores that sell their products. This article comes from an episode of my Italian podcast, Digital Marketing Mentality.
Omnichannel and onlife: a customer need, an opportunity for the brand
The customer already thinks and acts in an omnichannel way. For them, every touchpoint is an extension of the brand experience. When they buy, they judge the whole experience, their retail experience, and the product is only one part of it. Consistency and alignment across all channels, third-party channels included, are therefore a strategic necessity.
What happens when the channels are not aligned is visible in a case study on the sales channels of a European brand: customers used the e-commerce cart as a reminder to buy in the shop, and two departments saw each other as competitors.
The onlife view goes one step further: online and offline life are now one reality for the consumer. Omnichannel retail obtains the most from this physical and digital experience. It satisfies both the need to see and touch the products and the search for digital convenience, and this consistency is what the customer perceives as the brand.
Digital training: the key to omnichannel retail
The race to e-commerce often underestimated the physical channel, and the pandemic confirmed its central role. Today digital training designed for points of sale, independent shops included, is an advanced practice and a real engine of digital innovation in retail.
What does a brand obtain when it invests in this direction? It gives shop owners concrete tools to promote themselves and the brand’s products with phygital strategies. It is a strategic investment with direct advantages for both sides:
The benefits of this strategy reinforce each other: a satisfied customer returns to the store, a store that sells more promotes the brand better, a stronger brand brings new customers.
freedom to choose the channel and the way they interact;
a richer phygital purchase experience.
Partner stores
more operational autonomy and new tools;
the capacity to use digital marketing together with the physical experience;
more visibility and more sales.
Brand
a better reputation;
consistent communication on every touchpoint;
sales growth from the integration of physical and digital.
The challenge of digital innovation in retail is now
In a competitive market, digital training for retail, focused on phygital strategies, is a fundamental strategic investment for any brand that wants real innovation. It is the way to stand out and to answer the contemporary consumer, as part of a wider digital transformation.
The change is already happening. The brands that govern this transformation will lead it, and the future belongs to those who adopt digital innovation in retail today.
To apply these principles to your company, you can request a dedicated consultation.
Frequently asked questions
How do retail marketing, omnichannel marketing and onlife marketing differ?
The three concepts are connected, but they differ in scope and approach.
Retail marketing focuses on the specific tactics that stimulate sales inside one retail channel, physical or digital: in-store promotions, the optimisation of an e-commerce product page, local advertising for one shop. The emphasis is on action at the point of sale.
Omnichannel marketing is a wider strategy. It creates one customer experience, consistent and without interruptions, across all channels and touchpoints. The customer can start on one channel (an app) and continue on another (the physical shop) without perceiving a break. Retail marketing supplies the tactics inside each channel; the omnichannel strategy orchestrates them.
Onlife marketing is an approach that recognises the fusion of the consumer’s online and offline life into one reality. It influences both the omnichannel strategy and the retail marketing tactics, and pushes towards an integration that reflects how people naturally move between physical and digital spaces.
Why should a brand train its retail partners in digital skills?
Because the customer judges the whole experience across channels, and the store is often its weak point. Training gives shop owners concrete tools to promote themselves and the products of the brand with phygital strategies.
What do customers, stores and brand obtain from phygital training?
Customers obtain more consistency and freedom to choose the channel. Partner stores obtain more operational autonomy, visibility and sales. The brand obtains a better reputation, consistent communication on every touchpoint and sales growth from the integration of physical and digital.
