The term “Phygital” represents a new popular strategy adopted by more and more retailers. It consists of opting for a digital approach and adding it to a classic store. This practice has been introduced in order to help brick & mortar stores to counter the E-Commerce’s effects.
This integration of the digital world to the physical commerce world creates a whole new experience for the client and the retailer. Thus, this means that you have to adapt to this brand new strategy and familiarize your clients with it in order to be successful.
Of course, incorporating a digital strategy and creating the perfect mix of both worlds, involves technologies. Notably, the success of your brand new approach depends on your ability to use this technology. This added value has to fit your clients and your store’s needs. If not, this strategy will feel out of place and unnatural. Here are all the ways to go and the strategies you can adopt for your new model of store:
Integrating Click & Collect to create a Phygital Store
Letting your clients pick their products into your store represents an awesome competitive advantage. This relatively new way of processing and ordering products allows your customers to order a product in your store. Then, once the order is finished, you get notified and are able to get ready for your client’s order.
Click & Collect allows you to create a relationship with your client. These bonds are hard to create and keep when your business is a pure player – only available on the internet. Plus, you can maintain relations with your clients when they come to your physical store in order to pick up their orders. This relationship can lead to a better customer service. Indeed, it can be physically done, reassuring your customers.
Customers who are distrustful about shipping solutions prefer Click & Collect. Eventually, this strategy avoids shipping costs, or even delays. The only problem that could happen would be a the lack of stock in your store. A lot of tools allow you to show your clients if your products are available before they have the chance to order.
Phygital Commerce and Mobile Payment Strategy
More and more mobile providers are including this new mean of payment in their offers. So, this allows you to use payment terminals without needing your debit card. Easing your clients payments and multiplying their options allows you to sell more. Above that, both you and your client gain a lot of time. Indeed, a simple movement is needed to pay, allowing the payment to be done easily and the queue to be reduced and fast.
Undoubtedly, Holiday buyers, who may be coming in your store for Black Friday or Cyber Monday, will want to avoid queues at all cost. Thus, this new way of paying in your store will allow you to gain more customers.
Enjoying E-Commerce’s digital experience and applying it to create a Phygital Store
As previously mentioned, you can offer a brand new experience to your customers. Owning a brick & mortar store gives you the chance to create a omnichannel experience. For example, more and more stores like H&M use tablets in order to collect clients’ opinions on their buying experience. This way, clients have a direct view of the brand’s digital presence, straight from inside the store.
Pure player leader Amazon is also trying to create a Phygital strategy by opening stores. Indeed, their experience will include fitting rooms equipped with augmented reality mirrors. These will allow you to try on new clothes without needing to undress and getting new clothes in the store.
In the long run, this digital experience offered to your customers allows them, once again, to build a better relationship.
Omnichannel Approach for Phygital stores
This method aims at providing at your customers a seamless shopping experience. It is done on purpose for shops who want to get on the digital and physical grounds.
In order to apply an effective omnichannel marketing, you need to convey a personalized brand messaging across all of your channels. Thus, this means that your strategy has to be relevant and match with your store’s strategy.
Loyalty program
Now, more and more stores tend to opt for a digital kind of program. Thus, an omnichannel approach allows stores to mix multiple routes of communication to retain their customers.
Today, these programs tend to act like real CRMs. Hence, this means that these softwares fill your database automatically, and allows your customers to get rewarded for their purchases in your store, whether the product has been bought online or in-store.
But, not only softwares can do that. For example, Sephora’s loyalty program allows you to gain points. Their loyalty card is digital and physical. This allows clients to be present and able to buy their products and multiple channels at once: on the Internet, on their app and in their stores.
Finally, in order to develop this program, you can complete it and use social media marketing to touch more customers and add them to your now-growing database.
Social Media
Today, this communication method helps you gain more influence on people. This influence is palpable and can be felt when your clients come to buy your products in your store. Hence, promotion, exchanges and advice can be done by choosing this quite recent marketing channel.
Instagram and Pinterest for Phygital Commerce
Instagram is the new way to go for visual promotion and communication. Facebook’s division allows its users to share images of their lives or their businesses on a daily basis. The social media offers multiple opportunities thanks to the great ways of visibility available on it. Thus, hashtags, locations and sponsored content are here to help you reach more and more customers.
In order to create an effective Instagram account, you first need to open a professional Facebook page for your commerce. Then, you need to create an spreadsheet to follow your posts’ effectiveness, regarding likes, reach, views, etc. Instagram analytics allow you to get full weekly reports of you activity. Pinterest has the same abilities as Instagram.
Facebook helping Loyalty Programs
As mentioned earlier, a crosschannel strategy often includes a new loyalty program. That is where Facebook is relevant to your business. Loyalty programs aim at implicating your customers in your store’s life and lead them to buying your products. For example, rewarding your best clients or creating competitions to earn presents and loyalty points by participating and winning this competition. Leading your customers through these different channels can help you
Finally, Facebook is a wonderful targeting tool. Indeed, it gives you the ability to communicate to a special segment of your clients, or, for example, address your messages to a special audience in your area or your targeted market.
Retargeting
Lastly, this omnichannel strategy allows you to perform retargeting through your physical and digital ways. This method can be applied in correlation with your email strategy. In effect, this is done by analyzing your customers’ behavior, whether it is online or in-store, and send them emails in order to boost your traffic, and your sales revenue.
If you want to be as successful as possible, you need to run your analysis through your whole set of channels.
Conclusion
Thus, opting for a phygital strategy is a complete and exhaustive task. To complete its perfect execution, the implementation of an omnichannel is the perfect way to drive your customers to your new methods. With this new way of doing, you can now target your customers, whether it’s online or in the area you’re implanted in.
