Note: This ran in edited form in Quartz Magazine
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| When Fantasy Meets Retail Showrooms, Do Your Online Platforms Follow Suite? |
The best retail firms have always been great at
storytelling. I remember my first weekend in NYC, fifteen years ago, when I
stopped dead in front of a Saks 5th Avenue display window and was
enveloped by a fantasy woodland tale. Yes, they were selling the evening gown,
shoes and clutch, but they were accessories to the story of luxury, confidence
and power.
These days, that kind of retail story bleeds into
more than a display window.
While less than 10% of US retail purchases are made
online, given how many online shoppers use these sites for research and
exploration, you can see why creating a compelling and cohesive experience can
make financial sense.
There’s also a more porous customer experience
emerging. In the increasingly ADHD world, the retail experience means being
inspired around the dinner table, a quick inspired search on a mobile phone,
deeper research late that evening on the website, and then possibly a visit to
the store over the weekend to test it out…oh, and that may not be the end of
the line. Sometimes, there’s the urge to research further and do some price
comparisons, which takes the customer back online….it’s a dizzying world out
there. How’s a retailer supposed to keep up?
