In this new interview, we speak to Alessandro Puci, Retail Operations Manager in Guess. Enjoy this reading in which we talk about the future of physical stores. Alessandro gave us some tips to engage your customers in today’s competitive environment. This retail professional also talks about the importance of technology to highlights over the market and catch customers attention.
Stay here to enjoy this interesting interview with Alessandro from Guess!
Retail Interview – How to engage your customers
We start by assessing the current context of the retail sector. Will offline disappear?
I firmly hold the view that offline retail will not vanish. Instead, its market position has been fortified in the aftermath of the Covid era. During this period, the retail sector had to formulate fresh strategies and allocate resources towards discovering innovative solutions to reinforce its standing.
“This social aspect of shopping remains a significant draw for brick-and-mortar retail.”
What are its defects and virtues in front of online retail?
It is clearly difficult for the offline to compete with an almost infinite inventory that online can offer. However, offline retail possesses certain strengths that can entice customers to visit stores rather than making online purchases.
The customer experience that they are able to offer is unattainable. In store you can find a person that can assist you to find what you need that you may not have even considered before entering.
Brick-and-mortar retail can satisfy the instant gratification. Customers can engage their senses by touching and examining products before making a purchase, with the added benefit of immediate possession. Last but not least, don’t forget the thrill of shopping with a friend. This social aspect of shopping remains a significant draw for brick-and-mortar retail.
What is the biggest problem or weakness that retail has to face?
Viewing things from a different angle, any shortcomings can be seen as opportunities for growth. A growing number of consumers have become accustomed to making purchases through both online and offline channels, leading them to seek a cohesive and smooth overall experience.
Retail sectors mustn’t perceive online platforms as a competitor; rather, they should see them as an opportunity to drive the customers to the store. The market is full of competitors, offline and online, the key to success lies in providing an exceptional customer experience that fosters stronger customer loyalty.
In the current context, what role does technology play in retail? Does it help to engage your customers? Highlight a current technology or innovation that you believe is setting a trend.
The technology plays a key role in the adaptation that retail must undergo to remain competitive. Being the experience of the customer in the store the main goal, the technology assists the advisors in delivering superior service by equipping them with comprehensive information about products and services.
Simultaneously, digital tools enable the streamlining of time spent on tasks unrelated to selling, thereby granting assistants more opportunities to engage with their customers. Furthermore, technology empowers retail to deliver an authentic omnichannel experience, seamlessly bridging various channels to serve customers.
“Customer information are necessary to build memorable journeys”
What does it take for a store to work? Is there a magic recipe?
Ensuring a favorable standard of customer experience demands that the store provides a comprehensive array of products and services. I won’t delve into product attributes like quality or sustainability. Instead, the store advisors should direct their attention toward acquiring good knowledge of product information, sustainability, matters that are increasingly resonating with customers.
Additionally, they should adeptly harness the potential of available digital tools. The key is the training, not merely as a set of guidelines, but as a means to convey the genuine essence and outcomes of the comp, fostering heightened commitment.
How is customer loyalty achieved? How do you engage your customers?
To retain and engage your customers you have to know them. Customer information are necessary to build memorable journeys. With the technology the companies have to put the assistant in the best position in the relationship with the customers, providing information and suggesting best actions to do.
How do you see the future of retail?
In the forthcoming times, the distinction between online and offline will blur, as physical stores will leverage the expertise of their advisors to assist customers in their purchases, while also tapping into the vast inventory of the e-commerce realm.
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