Omni Channel Retail

Omni Channel Retail

Another area that was of great interest was shopping. It had been nearly 10 years since I was in the UK and things have transformed.

You may have heard of the phrase ‘Omni Channel’ – which is used to describe retailers who have an integrated approach to trade. In fact our customer Amy’s Flowers were runners up in last year’s Top Shop Omni Channel awards category.

Looking at how things were being done by many big and tiny retailers left me thinking that most of our New Zealand retailers are lagging so far behind in how they approach their customers.

A recent trip to the UK showed some very interesting developments in retail and selling online in general. It had been nearly 10 years since I was in the UK and things have transformed.

You may have heard of the phrase ‘Omni Channel’ – which is used to describe retailers who have an integrated approach to trade. In fact our customer Amy’s Flowers were runners up in last year’s Top Shop Omni Channel awards category.

Looking at how things were being done by many big and tiny retailers left me thinking that most of our New Zealand retailers are lagging so far behind in how they approach their customers. Some of the key things that stood out included;

  • Click and collect – Placing an order via the website and then going to the shop to collect it. The main ones were supermarkets. This meant that you could place your order early afternoon and then call in on the way home and save yourself having to fight the crowds to shop and get home a little earlier (traffic allowing – do not get me started on that subject).

  • Delivery by store with timed delivery – Ever had to wait in for someone to deliver something and it is either AM or PM delivery, think again! Many stores did personal delivery by their own staff. This meant that they could really control the time of the delivery, rather than randomly sending it via a courier. For example, my Sister had her weekend groceries delivered to her door between 5:30 and 5:45pm every Friday. Freeing up time on her day’s off. The quality was always high and the staff delivering were pretty much always the same, so they got to know each other. Like in the olden days of the Ye Olde Village Shoppe knowing their customers and creating good will. My sister was one of the best adverts for the company that they could hope to have.

  • Clear definition of special offers – There was a very clear definition of what was an online offer and what was available in stores. Many shops had ‘online only’ deals which were designed to get customers to buy online, but they also had instore only deals to get people into the store. One interesting thig I witnessed in one store was a customer complaining that the shop was selling an item online cheaper than she could buy it in the same store. The store assistant explained to her that the online price represented the fact the stores costs were reduced if people shop online and if she wanted to call in at her convenience the price on this item was more. The assistant was brilliant and the customer quickly realised the reasons, accepted them and then wandered back into the shop. I saw her later with a basket full of groceries. So I guess having good staff who have been trained to deal with customer objections is a good thing.

The retail landscape was not the only ‘Omni Channel’ approach to customers we saw. Many tourist attractions had pricing structures based around getting people to buy in advance online. Many had early bird specials, ‘7 day before’ specials and ‘on the day’ pricing. In fact one place I saw had nearly double the admission cost if you just decided to turn up on the day without booking. They were not alone, generally you could save up to 30-40% if you pre-booked (and paid).

Seeing the way that two very different cultures approached the use of the internet to sell goods and services to their clients in similar ways has given us ideas about how we can further help clients to develop their businesses and help them to grow and succeed.



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