Burberry and Topshop reap the rewards of connected retail
|
Version 0 of 1. Burberry announced record profits this week – adjusted profits (year end to March) were £461m, up 8% on the £428m announced a year ago, with a revenue rise of 17% to £2.3bn. The UK luxury brand attributed its phenomenal numbers in part to its digital leadership in "engagement, operations and commerce". It's no accident that Burberry is one of a small but growing number of retailers attempting to connect the best of in-store and online. Topshop is another brand that's part of this small, future-facing group of retailers, albeit at a different part of the spectrum. At the start of May, it launched its latest Kate Moss collection with the usual PR fanfare and associated queues down Oxford Street. This time, it embedded digital more deeply into the mix, connecting its outstanding in-store launch event with the droves of tech-savvy Moss and Topshop fans unable to attend. By embedding tech into its marketing, stores and shopper experience, everybody who has the Topshop app was given access to exclusive previews and content from the launch day, greatly extending the campaign's reach. Like most brands, though, the retailer hasn't cracked the holy grail of what makes a truly seamless experience across both the physical and virtual world. For those who watched it play out on their mobiles it remained a fairly passive affair. What else could the brand have done? Letting the viewer become the curator, giving them more control over the event (for example, lighting or music selection) would have been a simple way of creating a more participative experience. Like most brands grappling with this particular issue, Topshop could have been more adventurous and provocative. The personalised digital experience we are accustomed to when shopping online should also translate in-store too. Personal, transactional and social data can provide rich customer insight and be used by staff to ensure the retail experience is just as seamless. This isn't 21st-century future gazing; some brands are already innovating here. Virgin Atlantic is trying to incorporate Google Glass with its staff to personalise the way they treat customers, speeding up the check-in process and pooling customer data gained from online bookings, to ensure the most individual, personalised service possible. The airline has also started to exploit iBeacons at Heathrow airport to make its customer journey as streamlined as possible. What else is out there? While in its infancy at the moment, iOS application Passbook (which allows you to store vouchers, boarding passes, event tickets) could allow both greater utility in terms of flight information, boarding passes and so on, as well as a more emotive option for exclusive offers, upgrades and content. But retail still does have a long way to go. Take Selfridges – the department store has long reigned as the king of shopper experiences. The in-store theatre it offers is outstanding, and its recent skate-park and fragrance lab are a few of the installations that make them a standout retail destination. However, for the masses that missed out on the in-store experience, the digital offering was negligible and a huge missed opportunity. There are signs, however, that Selfridges is addressing this; its recent beauty project tie-up with Google+ and its planned live Google hangouts show a move towards a deeper and more participative experience and it will be interesting to see how this integrates with the retail experience. Clearly, connecting digital and physical experiences, whether through store theatre or day-to-day shopper experience is a race retailers can't opt out of. The objectives of all retailers should be the same: creating a symbiotic relationship between the retail and digital experience that drives increased customer value – one that works seamlessly regardless of a customer's access point, giving the customer the connected journey they not only want, but expect, without thought or effort. Paul Vallois is managing partner at Partners Andrews Aldridge To get weekly news analysis, job alerts and event notifications direct to your inbox, sign up free for Media Network membership. All Guardian Media Network content is editorially independent except for pieces labelled 'Advertisement feature'. Find out more here. |