For traditional bricks and mortar stores that had to close their doors during lockdown and had little or no ecommerce capabilities, coronavirus has been a wake-up call for many of them.
In fact, the virus has laid down the gauntlet for all retailers, Roisin Woods, retail digital commerce consultant at Retail Ireland Skillnet, says.
“The term ‘innovate or die’ has never been more relevant and the time for complacency amongst retailers in developing and optimising their ecommerce capabilities has well and truly passed,” she says.
At the beginning of lockdown, consumers quickly moved to online in order to purchase goods, everything from clothing to groceries arrived by courier or delivery driver, and this shows no signs of abating as we go into the winter months.
Convenience
"Retailers across all subsectors will be required to provide their customers with a secure, mobile-first online presence, offering convenience, speed, choice and transparency. If they don't, they run the risk of not only losing a single sale but possibly the life-time value of the customer. Looking ahead to Christmas, which will be a make or break period for many businesses, retailers are in a race against time to get a viable ecommerce operation established, whether that's their own website, social selling or a presence on marketplaces such as Amazon, " she says.
Paul Prior, head of digital at Three Ireland, says the virus has accelerated a strategy of closing the gap between digital and physical spaces by about two to three years. He has seen a 30-50 per cent increase in online traffic within a demographic that he thought would never be utilising it. "It has broadened digital to a much greater population," he says.
So for companies that up till now have had no online presence, where do they start? Not becoming overwhelmed by the problem is key to success, Prior says.
“The only difference between a physical space and digital space is people – where you’re relying on people skills to influence and interact, you have to programme the technology to do that instead. So you start with your front door – what’s the journey you’d like your customer to go take, what are the questions that are going to be asked through each stage of the journey and how would you facilitate that through an online interaction. People think they’re solving a technology problem when they’re actually solving a people problem,” he says.
There is no one-size fits all when it comes to building a viable digital presence, and every businesses’ requirement is unique. Whilst some may require a fully integrated ecommerce website, for others marketplace selling might suffice. It is very much dependent on the retailer’s needs and capabilities.
“I believe the starting point for every retailer is to clearly document what they want to achieve in advance of meeting with ecommerce providers. Think about the practical elements of managing and selling goods online including stock management, systems integrations, payment providers, budgets, logistics, packaging, supplier collaborations and so on. All too often retailers start by going to the web developers without knowing what they truly want to achieve. Start with the business needs first and tailor the technology to meet these needs as opposed to the other way around,” Woods says.
In terms of supports for businesses, there has been a very proactive approach from Government agencies in recent months to help retailers during the crisis, Woods says.
Ecommerce courses
“From Retail Ireland Skillnet’s perspective, we are working very closely with different retailers to support them with their specific ecommerce training needs. Subsidising the cost of ecommerce courses has been very popular, as retailers can source the course based on the skills required within their team, and Retail Ireland Skillnet can provide funding to reduce the costs involved. Furthermore, Retail Ireland Skillnet has provided retailers free access to an industry certified elearning retail digital marketing course. In addition, the Local Enterprise Board and Enterprise Ireland have a range of financial and mentoring supports available,” she says.
A lot of independent and SMEs in the tech and digital space are offering free programmes of work.
“If you’re an SME and not a corporate entity such as Three, when you reach out to third-party providers such as Shopify, who offer one of the better ecommerce out-of-the box solutions, they offer those support services in addition to your contract. The help is there,” Prior says.
The message is clear: any retailers who is not currently in this space can still bridge the gap. But not doing so could spell disaster.
“Irish retailers across all subsectors have to reimagine, rethink, and reshape everything about their business models if they are to keep pace with the changing retail landscape and ever-changing consumer paths to purchase. Building a website will not be enough for retailers playing catch-up. They need to develop a contextual content strategy and content distribution strategy across relevant social platforms. Traditional retailers must acquire the confidence to put themselves out there and become an authority in their own retail space and make the most of organic marketing tools to engage with audiences,” Woods says.
Another tip for retailers playing catch-up is to evaluate their current supply chain processes. Review each aspect of how products are sourced, procured, managed, and distributed for efficiencies. Review all supplier arrangements and establish new collaborations such as drop-shipping.
“Retailers don’t have to stock it to sell it,” Woods says.
So with online selling providing retailers that have the capacity to develop and optimise their online offering with unlimited access to consumers, not only regionally but nationally and globally, and even having the potential to transform regional independent retailers into global vendors, it would be plain madness not to get on board.