Retail is detail
Customer profile management across the online and offline worlds is the key to success. By Edmund Tie & Company
In the highly competitive retail market environment, it is more important than ever to understand the characteristics of customers in terms of demographics, preferences, income, purchase activities and transaction histories. This data can be obtained through registration and customer log-in to retailers’ websites, as well as a subscriptions for membership programmes.
Information provided by customers is a valuable resource for customer profile management that will help retailers create shopping experiences that better fit their needs and interests. Effective data analytics will further enable retailers to create meaningful relationships with customers and maximise revenues.
Higher competition is forcing retailers to learn new ways to do business. The impact of e-commerce cannot be understated. To remain competitive, retailers need to understand how to meet growing customer expectations for efficient service, convenience, flexibility and fast delivery.
Retailers have to connect different parts of the business process and integrate technologies to offer a smooth shopping experience across brick-and-mortar stores, websites and mobile applications.
Flexibility at the “last mile” has also become a key contributor to customer satisfaction. That includes offering all payment options including cash, credit cards and mobile payment.
The latter has become especially important. According to the Bank of Thailand, mobile payment accounts reached 47 million in 2018, up from 21 million in 2016, helped by the widespread adoption of the governmentbacked PromptPay. Others include Rabbit Line Pay, True Money, AIS mPay, AirPay and PaySocial.
BUSINESS ADAPTATION
In this connected world, shoppers are accustomed to doing their research on mobile devices. By the time they walk into a store, many are better informed about the product they are purchasing than the sales personnel. Therefore, retail is now about detail: knowing about customer characteristics, behaviours, purchasing patterns, emotions and everything else that could influence a purchase decision.
Transparency and corporate social responsibility have also become ethical issues for consumers. They want to know how products are being sourced, what ingredients are contained in their food and what the supply chain looks like.
Consumers are more likely to demand brands respect the environment. Also, they have become more mindful of their purchases by avoiding or minimising the usage of plastic bags, bringing their own tumblers for coffee and choosing to align themselves with brands and shops that support their values.
More retailers are investing in sustainability by using environmentfriendly packaging, pursuing energysaving policies and providing more green areas within their retail projects.
TECHNOLOGY DISRUPTION
Every business today is looking at ways to use technology to reduce costs and improve services. Some are able to use robots to replace or complement human staff. In Thailand, the types of technology deployed in retail business depend on what retailers want to achieve.
For example, The Mall Group has invested in a big data analytics system to provide consumer insights, manage a vast database and enhance customer relationship management. Based on data gathered from millions of transactions by M Card holders, the retailer can provide tailor-made marketing campaigns and promotions for individual shoppers.
Ikea, the furniture retailer, offers the Ikea Place App, which enables customers to visualise furniture in true-to-scale 3D in their homes using their smartphone camera. Augmented reality (AR) technology allows customers to view the setting as if the items selected from the catalogue were real, providing an exciting new experience and making them more confident about making a purchase.
Another example of technology disruption in retail is the innovative Tops Daily Outlet at Singha Complex. Its Tops Box application enables customers to scan barcodes at a self-checkout point and pay through cards tied to the application. It displays accurate product prices on electronic shelf labels.
ONLINE TO OFFLINE
As the line between online and offline is blurred, retailers are offering integrated online-to-offline (O2O) shopping. Though online stores are popular, for some products, customers still need the real in-store experience to judge items they want to buy. Even giant global online marketplaces like Alibaba and Amazon have adopted O2O to better engage with customers.
In Thailand, Grab is a good example of an O2O platform. The company evolved from a ride-hailing business to a mobile payments platform before entering the O2O commerce space. Acknowledging that Grab is now part of a new lifestyle in Thailand, Central Group has invested in Grab Thailand to collaborate in areas such as transport, food and grocery delivery to provide more value to its customers and Grab’s customers. This partnership will help expand the reach of Central Group restaurants and food-related brands, while offer Grab Food customers more options.
Consumer insights are increasingly valuable data that help retailers design approaches that match the different dimensions of shoppers and ultimately drive sales. Retailers need to intimately understand customer characteristics, behaviours, purchasing patterns and more.
Retailers also need to understand the impact of e-commerce and the importance of business adaptation to get customers involved in purchasing activities. On the payment side, retailers need to get on the mobile bandwagon and partner with mobile payment providers.
Many shoppers today do their research online, and by the time they walk into a store, they are better informed about the product they are purchasing than the sales personnel.