Retailers: Are you getting enough out of your digital strategy?

The retail market in India is presumed to double from US$ 600 billion to 1 trillion between the period of 2015 and 2020 (1). This boom is stimulated by income growth, urbanisation and attitudinal shifts. The expected growth in retail is by 12 percent, which is in line with historical trends (IBEF, 2015).

The number of online buyers in India will reach 128 million by the end of 2018. Forrester expects India's online retail spending to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 50% over the next five years as more Indian consumers start purchasing online (2).

The promise of omnichannel is becoming increasingly relevant, even for brick and mortar retailers, as customers expect a seamless experience with higher serviceability. In other words, digital can make ‘endless aisle’ concept a reality by interacting with customers along the entire purchase pathway. This can be achieved in various stages, for instance, through payment channels (cash on delivery, mobile wallets) and streamlined logistics infrastructure; smartly levering social media to drive word of mouth; using high-end technology for agility; and  robust and adaptive supply chain.

Another emerging trend, digitisation cycle, is based on changing consumer habits and preferences. Convenience, price and range are the three fundamental pillars which influence consumer’s online buying behaviour. Till now, the ‘price’ factor is the major driver of online business in the market, however, businesses should start emphasizing on the two other pillars—range and convenience. Moreover, at present, the competition is not between online and offline channels, it's more of a war between discount and non-discount sales."

The concept of digitisation in retail is a holistic approach that traverses the boundary of online retail to include in-store digital experience.

We, @ speradigital, pride ourselves on providing a tailored digital strategy that assists our clients in establishing their options, defining their project needs and managing project delivery. We help companies across the spectrum improve revenue, operating margin, customer experience and reduce costs and marketing budget.

An example of our work would be the engagement led by our consultants for a retail major in UK. The benefits were:
• total savings of circa $1.5 million,
• improvement in online sales by over 60% in one year, and
• saving of over 3750 hours of productive man-hours amounting to circa $300 K annually.

We engage with you to determine the maturity of your processes and technology. In our report, we measure you against Industry and your competition. We not only give you recommendations but also create "play books" that your team can use on day to day basis. And, if you want us to create a digital centre of excellence for you, well our team is ready.


Author:  Debaleena Debnath
Debaleena is a digital media consultant @ speradigital
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Source:
(1) Boston Consulting Group and Retailers Association of India’s report titled, ‘Retail 2020: Retrospect, Reinvent, Rewrite’
(2) Forrester’s Asia Pacific online retail forecast (2013-2018)

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