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A Paradigm Shift

Smart retailers are reimagining their organizations to better reflect the shopper journey

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Many articles have been written about the importance of providing seamless experiences to consumers, both online and in physical manifestations of retail. Call it “customer centricity” or “omnichannel,” or whatever buzzword happens to be in favor, but the idea of a consistent shopping experience across channels and platforms is nothing new.

We also understand the notion that consumers do not make a distinction between the various channels they visit and shop, and that their journey is holistic rather than the segmented path to purchase we tend to teach in marketing textbooks and seminars.

However, when one looks at the way retail organizations are structured, it doesn’t take long to notice the silos that are in place, with the in-store and digital teams often working tirelessly, but in isolation from one another. This disconnect between the way in which these narrowly focused teams work and the way the consumer perceives the shopping journey cannot be overstated.

Enter Paris-based beauty retailer Sephora, which has been heralded by many as an organization that continues to innovate successfully despite the retail downturn. Last month, the brand announced it would combine its in-store, mobile and digital teams, realigning their missions to reflect the way in which their customers actually shop.

“If a customer browsed online then bought in store, we can see that,” Beth Laughton, SVP of Digital Retail, Sephora, told online fashion magazine Glossy. “We had good relationships across our channels, but we weren’t collaborating or finding synergies… [Now] we’re more aligned, and we can move faster across in-store, online and mobile strategies.”

As the pendulum continues to swing back and forth between e-commerce and physical retail, we are beginning to recognize the critical symbiotic relationship between the channels. Many organizations pay lip service to the importance of “experience” in retail, however, I would argue that it’s retailers, like Sephora, that are willing to undertake a paradigm shift in their very organizational structure that will remain competitive and on the bleeding edge in the future.

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