The UK’s economy may have experienced a double-dip recession in recent years but it doesn’t mean retailing has stopped progressing. Smart retailers are continuously seizing opportunities that the modern digital age is offering them, which has led to the birth of personalised retailing – me-tailing.
An article by The Guardian gives the most precise definition of me-tailing: it’s where retailers offer personalised products and interactions, and customers decide the method of their purchase and payment.
Personalisation in retailing is a key feature to consider in today’s fierce competition. IBM, too, has conducted a study and found interesting results.
According to the survey, teenagers nowadays carry out the majority of their shopping using their mobile phones. People between the ages 13 and 19 are often referred to as the digital natives, that’s why it is no wonder that a large number of them use their mobiles to interact with other customers with similar interests.
Retailers are now expected to develop a mobile app for smartphones and tablets and to post promotions and ads to social networking sites. The need for self-service tools of various type has increased as well as the establishment of a forum for like-minded consumers. In addition, post-purchase experiences are of greater significance. The ability to form an opinion about the retailer after the purchase has become so important that it could increase consumer satisfaction even if the pre-purchase experience was poor.
To help businesses adjust to these new shopping patterns, IBM has launched Smarter Commerce Initiative, which is a digital marketplace serving as an aid for companies to react more quickly to the amended demands of customers. The gist of this initiative is to automate every stage of shopping: marketing, selling, buying and other service processes.
Let’s see an example: the footwear brand Soletrader has already implemented me-tailing through an in-store iPad system, designed for sales assistants. It works as a search engine and provides a faster way to re-order products that are out of stock. A British luxury fashion house is another good example to see how me-tailing works in practice. Burberry opened their flagship store on Regent Street. This store is home to the world’s largest retail screen, 550 hidden speakers and a set of unique screens that can be converted into mirrors.
My personal favourite has to be Ray-Ban’s approach to personalised retailing. Their flagship store in Covent Garden includes very sophisticated audio technology. The speakers are on full blast with playlists corresponding to current trends. These playlists are modified to reflect on the mood of the particular day.
The aforementioned Guardian article also sums up the overall effect me-tailing could have on the retail industry by saying;
“Despite the doom and gloom of the past year, there is a retail renaissance underway and it is digital. Connected retail technology is linking consumers, devices and data for smarter shopping experiences, from the high street to online, in-store to mobile applications. Retailers who use the right mix of offline and online experiences for their customers will have a real commercial future on the high street.”
Have you had any recent purchase experience? Are you a retailer too with unique approaches to me-tailing? If so, let me know in a comment below.
About the Author: Réka Blazsek is a freelance blogger based in Surrey whose main field of interest is business and economics. For the best retailing experience, she recommends Sparkstone
Photo credit: Jason Howie
