Driving Speed and Efficiency in Modern Retail
Speed and efficiency have become key brand differentiators in the retail sector.
Driven in part by the market shifts we’ve seen as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic and other global crises such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine, customers are gravitating towards retailers which are able to provide them with a frictionless and accelerated service.
However, with a severe economic downturn practically imminent, retailers are finding themselves being pressured to achieve more with less. Efficient operations at every link in the value chain is going to be necessary if retailers are going to survive and thrive in this increasingly challenging environment.
This means retailers need to strike the right balance between maintaining the level of service customers demand and streamlining their operations to become leaner and more agile and thus better able to respond to the economic environment in which we find ourselves.
Efficiency
As customer purchasing power decreases, retailers will need to make sure their marketing strategy is delivering maximum return for the smallest possible outlay of funds.
Content marketing will continue to thrive in this environment due to it not being subject to cost-per-click inflation and the fact it effectively retains value over time. The focus should be on creating evergreen content which will remain relevant throughout the year and beyond to ensure retailers are extracting the maximum amount of value from it.
To aid with this, retailers must ensure content is properly indexed, LD+JSON is embedded and accurate and reviews are also indexed. Most importantly, retailers must verify that all website content is being crawled, indexed, and ranked, to boost SEO and make sure content can easily be discovered through organic search methods.
The number one improvement you can make right now to create new efficiency is by examining the speed of your online portals. Omnichannel retail is going to continue to be important in 2023 and beyond, with many customers using their smartphones to explore products even when shopping in-store and over half (53%) of mobile website visitors stating they would abandon a website that takes more than three seconds to load. Make sure pages are quick to load and properly optimized for mobile and that your website is simple to navigate and product information easy to locate.
The trick to a more efficient retail operation is to identify the improvements you can make with the minimum amount of financial outlay and the marketing channels with the highest possible ROI. Content marketing and website improvements are just two examples of this philosophy and will help your retail operation become leaner and better able to meet the needs of customers during economically challenging periods.
Speed
It’s not just your website which needs to be fast, however. Customers have been spoiled by the generous delivery options offered by big brands and have become increasingly demanding when it comes to being given a rapid service.
As retailers in the physical and omnichannel spaces you have an advantage over ecommerce retailers in this regard as brick-and-mortar stores can offer click and collect options to their customers. This means you can leverage your existing internal supply chains to deliver products directly to stores instead of having to rely on costly courier services for the tricky and expensive last mile of logistics.
Research has consistently shown that customers want these options as well. According to Shopify, 35% of customer are choosing click and collect and 75% say that free shipping is an important factor when it comes to making a purchasing decision. Not only this, but 55% of consumers want to browse products online and check what’s available in local stores and 47% of consumers want the option to check out online and return in-store, which only serves to further demonstrate the roles brick-and-mortar has in providing customers with the kind of service they want whilst keeping costs low.
Whilst the pandemic saw a massive shift towards online retail, it has done nothing to solve the cost and challenge associated with last mile delivery and returns facilitation. Physical retail has a massive advantage here, being able to use store networks and internal supply chains to make these challenges far simpler to overcome.
Final Thoughts
2023 will continue to create challenges for the world of retail. As the economic downturn worsens, retailers are going to need to achieve more with less and those which are able to create maximum speed and efficiency by leveraging the channels and methods with the greatest ROI are going to stand a far greater chance of success.
Speed and efficiency are going to be hot topics at Future Stores Seattle 2023, being held in June at The Sheraton Seattle.
Download the agenda today for more information and insights.