SINGAPORE – In a special retail insight paper, Ogilvy examines how during the height of the pandemic, shopping habits pivoted to online at lightning speeds uncovering demands on retailers that only those with efficient operations, and flexible technologies could keep up with. But as vaccination rates increase around the world and pandemic restrictions ease, footfall in store is returning and with this, a new type of customer – the borderless shopper.
Retailers will need to take advantage of increased footfall to recruit customers into their online ecosystems and build the foundation for borderless service to future-proof their businesses. For brands, now is the time to invest and get ready to recruit the next generation of shoppers before their competition does.
The paper argues that success for brands will start with a shift in mindset. Retailers should aim to personalize service across every touchpoint, online and offline, for a seamless shopping experience. As a result, Ogilvy have adopted Borderless Retail built on strategy, data and experience to maximise effect and success.
“Questions brands should ask themselves are; what is my business challenge, what does my ideal customer experience look like? Start from there and then we can work backwards on the technological solutions to achieve that at scale,” said Gabbi Stubbs, APAC Head of Product Marketing & Strategy at Adobe.
Personalization, on the other hand, depends on the knowledge of customers, and that means customer data. First-party data collected on owned touchpoints will become critical to brands. A future-proof retail innovation strategy depends on making a fair offer to people that is clear about what data a brand will collect and what value customers will get in return.
Waheed Bidiwale, Global Vice President for Verticurl explains: “First-party data had taken a back seat in the last decade, especially for B2C brands with the reliance on data vendors and platforms like Facebook to generate reach and conversion. Marketers need to re-discover the power and wealth of first-party data and build strategies and solutions around it.”
Retailers also need nimble operations and communications to capitalize on the potential advantages that customer data provides. From integrated online and offline customer service and merchandising to content optimization, and relationship management.
To find out more about how brands can adopt a borderless retail approach please download the paper here: https://bit.ly/3Feo5e3
