The emphasis of digital technologies as transactions by retailers could be the wrong area of concentration according to a Forrester analyst. Claims insist focus should “instead be looking at how to use digital in-store to deliver better, omni-channel experiences to clients.”   

The prediction cant be seen as totally out of the blue as quite a few retailers are already successfully on the path to bringing digital into the in-store environment.  

Take fashion retailer Rebecca Minkoff, who has integrated tech-forwards strategies such as placing digital screens into dressing rooms so customers can personally interact with associates and the products whilst trying on items - elevating those awkward "Can I get these in a 10? Anyone?" moments...     

And then there’s home improvement retailer, B&Q, which is testing dynamic and personalised pricing as a customer physically enters the store.

Accustom Apparel then blows the aforementioned out of the water with the introduction of an in-store service that scans a customer’s body to create a custom pattern to fit over their body shape.

Adam Silverman, principal analyst for ebusiness and channel strategy believes that this approach highlights a change in retail engagement as, “the linear thinking of retail with the customer at the end is then flipped, and the customer is at the front of that supply chain.”

Silverman recommends retailers should now be concentrating on service and convenience.

“Start setting the groundwork for a single view of the customer, and work on initiatives that make it as easy as possible for in-store associates to access product information and digital tools. You need to be doing this for omni-channel fulfilment now anyway; 25 per cent of customers won’t go to the store if you don’t.”

Agree with Silverman? Do you think omni-channel experiences are the way of the future when it comes to retail engagement?

Let us know in the comment section below.