evolving traditional retail: what we can learn from e-commerce
by Maike Burger
It’s not all about technology – it’s the people that count! Online retailers have understood that motivated people are the driving force behind innovations. Considering this fact you might ask yourself why traditional retailers usually don’t use this potential. If they want to accelerate customer-centric innovations, they need to learn from e-commerce. Nobody is asking that traditional retailers provide innovations overnight on an agile basis, but they can learn from online stores.
Three advantages of ecommerce that drive innovation
The key to success is constantly developing. Question yourself critically time and time again and learn to evolve with the customer needs. Together with your sales staff you will discover innovations, implement them quickly, and continue developing them during ongoing operations.
#1: focus on employees
Innovation comes only from motivated people – they are the power behind the innovation and can make a difference if they are taken seriously and appreciated. Involve sales assistants much more in the development of retail formats and touchpoints as they are the face to the customer, knowing him or her best. They don‘t think in single store "locations“ but think to connect online and offline for outstanding customer experiences and customer journeys.
#2: innovation power
Form teams of various experts. Give them enough time to spend outside the daily business. Receive innovative approaches concerning both customers and technology. You will see, as soon as their ideas are implemented, the employees are motivated to continue exploring more.
#3: implementation strength
As most of you might know, retail often requires a long lead time. Too long. This is exactly where e-commerce offers an advantage: Fast implementation. Launch a new format with minimal requirements and make it immediately accessible to customers. Use the customers‘ feedback to move forward. That’s what real customer orientation looks like!
The complete article is published on LinkedIn.
