What is retailtainment?
Retailtainment is the word I have come to use a lot over the last couple of years. People who know me will know what this word means, but for those that don’t, this is the word I like to use to describe bringing the retail space alive.
Retail has obviously changed over the years but in the last three or four years it feels like the change has been a lot more abrupt and rapid. Why is this you ask? What can retailers do? What are the challenges ahead?
All good questions, that I will give my opinion on in this blog. I am extremely passionate about retail. I started my retail career at 20 years old with B&Q and have now been in the industry for 18 years. I love it and always will.
What have been the biggest changes in the retail industry?
I believe the three biggest changes have been:
- Declining footfall on the high street
- The birth of omnichannel
- Internet retailers getting bigger, stronger and smarter
Over the last four years, footfall on the high street has declined by a considerable amount which presents some real challenges for us as a business. However, we still attract customers through our passion for excellent service, finding creative solutions to help our customers and, of course, ‘retailtainment’. Getting the team to bring the retail space alive and get involved in the community, is important.
Omnichannel brings online, voice and the retail space together giving consumers a seamless experience. Some retailers have really made huge strides on this and some have yet to start, but the landscape shows if you don’t utilise a cross-channel content strategy then customers will become disconnected with your brand. Consumers expect businesses to offer this and do it well in order to build that trust, credibility and loyalty.
Successful internet businesses have really tailored their approach to work online and are using this when they move to the high street, the clicks to bricks. However, the retailers fighting to compete in the online space, the bricks to clicks, have really suffered and struggled. You only need to look at the retailers that we have lost to see this. Maplins, Toys R Us, HMV and Blockbuster are just a few. The digital world just simply cannot be ignored or used ineffectively.
So, what do customers want in our retail space? They want you to bring the product alive and create an experience, not just a sale. On a personal note, I love watching Waterstones have the Gruffalo, Peter Rabbit and many other characters in store and bring the books to life. This is added value that you can’t get purchasing a book online or on an eBook reader. This is what retailtainment is, giving the customer an experience that makes them want to come back.
I believe that, in the race to online, so many great retailers have forgotten about the people and the bricks and mortar part of their business. Service on the high street continues to frustrate, due to non-existent cross-channel and poor customer experience. This pushes the customer away from retail stores and onto online platforms.
In the next edition of The CEO Files, I will give my predictions on what changes and challenges are on the way for retail in 2019 and beyond. To see my previous blogs click here.
Until next time…