Shop till you drop

It is not a choice between online and physical stores, but over which brand delivers the right expe

Talk of e-commerce growths in Asia and the first country that springs to mind is obviously China. With Alibaba having revolutionised the way Chinese consumers shop, China remains a copybook example of the transformative power of e-commerce.
 
Earlier this year, Wheely, a Swedish start-up has started beta testing yet another novel shopping concept in Shanghai; staffless, mobile grocery stores. This concept takes the Amazon Go concept one step further.
 
The shopping landscape in other growth markets in South and South East Asia is also undergoing rapid evolution. But while it’s tempting to gaze into the ‘Crystal Ball of E-commerce’ and start making predictions about how e-commerce is the game of the future in big Asian markets like India, it is important to remember that there are two game-changers of significance.

 

The obvious one is of course technology. Brand owners have to choose the right technology platform to offer consumers the ultimate convenience of click and shop anytime, anywhere. The effective use of ‘data’ enables companies to offer the maximum choice, to maximise the throughput per customer. The other equally critical force at play in shopping is: experience!
 
For certain high-touch categories like fresh food and high fashion, the consumer value of immersive experience is the X Factor that cannot be taken out of the shopping equation. A case in point is the recent acquisition of Whole Foods USA by Amazon.

 
The real opportunity in Asian markets therefore is not as simplistic as e-commerce vs brick and mortar. It is about simplifying and optimising and delighting the consumer during her shopping journey. For certain categories, the value that consumers are looking for is transactional efficiency. And technology or cost-effective labour or location or a combination can serve as enabling factors for making the transaction pain-free for the shopper and profitable for the brand-owner.
 
For certain other categories, retail therapy is a very aspirational destination for the experience-hungry urban consumer. And brands that leverage ‘data’ to understand this consumer’s motivations better and use technology to create unique shopping experiences, whether via virtual spaces or through brick and mortar locations, or a combination of those, will win in this marketplace.

 
It is not about one channel vs another but about empowering the consumer to be at the heart of the shopping process. E commerce channels will have to offer way more than just efficient home delivery in a country where corner grocery stores have long practiced direct-to-consumer delivery models.
 
Self-service formats will have to up their game in terms of shopping experience and choice to satisfy the entitled shopper who don’t really savour the do-it–yourself model.
 
In sum, like in almost every other sector, hybrid innovations is what will drive differentiation and hence competitiveness in the retail sector.

 
The key ingredient in a successful retail recipe for a country as diverse as India, will be a ‘product PLUS’ approach that is service with varying degrees of personalisation. A brand must have a servicing model that empowers the shopper with the right information and choice, is flexible enough to allow her to choose how and when she wants the shopping experience and offers her some degree of customisation. That could be in terms of physical order fulfilment, in pack selection or promotions or payments. And if it also supports her with online or offline category-specific coaching services, that will be a winning retail mix. And the channel, be it brick-and-mortar or online, then becomes simply the shopping-enabler.     

The author is a London-based brand strategist with Healthy Marketing