The Future of Brands in Retail
Today’s retail world is changing like never before. The new generations are growing up speaking to Amazon’s Alexa and interacting with touchscreens. There’s no denying that digital is dominating retail sales and this shift is inevitable, but that’s not stopping the brands from putting on a show with their retail presence. Brands are actually using retail branding to support their online marketing approach, by treating their physical space and advertising assets as a portfolio and way in for consumers.
There is a huge gap between the offline and online retail model, e-tailers are trying to bridge by going hybrid, a combination of both. In fact, E-tailers have now started investing in brick and motor stores, pop-ups, events and other physical retail strategies to drive growth. Online portals like HealthKart, FabFurnish, Firstcry and many others have taken their business offline as well.
The role of physical store will still be important despite the rise of online retail. The store is not just a sales space, but an opportunity to interact with the consumers and create an experience to showcase the quality and functionality of the product. This improves the customer engagement, brand presence and brand credibility.
Talking about the economics, with the digital advertising cost increasing and also the online market saturating, it has become harder and expensive for the brands to get an ad on most media platforms. You can be more cost effective offline by using point of sale display stands to communicate your brand in the store with the same ads, message or create a tailor-made solution. Consumer still appreciate the merits of a physical presence and will continue to do that. Brands should consider this as a part of their wider marketing mix as hybrid model is the future.
Author: Pranav Manekar
pranav [dot] manekar [at] amitoje [dot] com
