Powering The Agile Store

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1 For: EBusiness & Channel Strategy Powering The Agile Store by Martin Gill, June 5, 2013 Key Takeaways Shoppers Have High Expectations Of Digitally Enhanced Stores US retailers lead the way in terms of deploying in-store digital technology, yet European consumers have higher expectations of a digitally enhanced store than their US counterparts. European firms must move swiftly past the experimentation stage to capitalize on this opportunity. To Prove Its Value, Store Technology Must Serve All Stages Of The Customer Life Cycle In-store digital technology with a limited use case will struggle to prove its value. ebusiness executives must design digital store experiences that enhance every stage of the customer life cycle. ebusiness Executives Must Take A Lead In Developing In-Store Digital Experiences ebusiness executives are uniquely placed to lead their firms in-store digital strategy. They combine digital know-how with the cross-functional awareness necessary to design compelling digitally enhanced experiences. Forrester Research, Inc., 60 Acorn Park Drive, Cambridge, MA USA Tel: Fax:

2 For ebusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals June 5, 2013 Powering The Agile Store Bringing The Best Of Digital Into The Physical Environment To Empower Customers And Associates Alike by Martin Gill with Zia Daniell Wigder, Peter Sheldon, Myriam Da Costa, and Douglas Roberge Why Read This Report Digital technology is poised to transform the retail experience. As many retailers struggle to maintain costly store estates, ebusiness executives have an opportunity to play a leading role in redefining the value proposition of the retail store. Consumers are keen to engage with in-store digital experiences and have high expectations of the value that such technology will bring. However, large-scale rollouts of in-store technology can be a costly investment for many firms, with a price tag of tens of millions of dollars. ebusiness executives are uniquely placed to help lead the design of in-store digital experiences that enhance every stage of the customer life cycle while also bringing a much-needed agility to store processes, such as stock management or handling returns. This report forms part of the agile commerce playbook and examines some of the key opportunities that ebusiness executives have to bring the best of digital into the retail store. Table Of Contents 2 Retail Stores Desperately Need A Digital Overhaul Enter The Agile Store: A Digitally Enhanced Retail Experience The Digitally Enabled Store Serves The Customer As Part Of An Overall Experience Digitally Enabled Associates And Processes Level The Playing Field With Pure Plays recommendations Retail Stores Are Set For A Digital Makeover Supplemental Material Notes & Resources Forrester used data from its European Technographics Retail, Customer Experience, And Travel Online Survey, Q and North American Technographics Retail Online Survey, Q (US) for this report. Related Research Documents The Role Of Digital In The Path To Purchase August 27, 2012 US Cross-Channel Retail Forecast, 2011 To 2016 June 12, 2012 The Digitization Of The In-Store Experience February 7, , Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited. Information is based on best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. Forrester, Technographics, Forrester Wave, RoleView, TechRadar, and Total Economic Impact are trademarks of Forrester Research, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective companies. To purchase reprints of this document, please clientsupport@forrester.com. For additional information, go to

3 Powering The Agile Store 2 Retail stores desperately need a digital overhaul Retail stores must transform if they are to remain a relevant part of the overall customer experience. While in most countries around the world, more than 90% of sales still take place in stores, a huge portion of those sales are digitally influenced. 1 For some commoditized categories like consumer electronics and entertainment, digital engagement wields a massive influence over consumer behavior, and the imperative to blend digital experiences into traditional retail spaces is even greater. 2 The Web has given shoppers almost instant access to a previously undreamt of assortment of products, challenging the old paradigm of retail. ebusiness executives in retail firms are finding that: Digital touchpoints have eroded the store s dominance for both research and purchase. While the store still remains the most popular choice for researching, a range of digital touchpoints including search engines, mobile, and online giants like Amazon.com and ebay are key influencers on purchases that were researched ahead of time. 3 ebusiness executives have a clear opportunity to leverage their shoppers propensity to embrace digital research by better integrating digital technology into the physical environment. 4 What s more, despite the fact that many US retailers are more advanced in the rollout of digital technologies to their stores, European shoppers have higher expectations of the level of interactivity and service a digital store will deliver. This is true across the board from price checks to mobile checkout. For example, 60% of European online adults expect store associates to be able to answer technical questions about a product compared with 38% of US online adults (see Figure 1). Managing store estates is costly and complex. Physical retailers are faced with three very expensive budget items: associates, rent, and a long tail of distributed inventory that makes competing with lean pure plays an increasingly difficult challenge. By comparison, online success stories like Amazon, asos.com, and Zalando can achieve global scale at a fraction of the cost. Struggling multichannel retailers like Jessops and hmv in the UK are actively downsizing their store estates to better balance their cost bases. 5 But downsizing alone is insufficient ebusiness executives must think about the role of the store not in isolation but as part of a digital-first customer journey. Pure-play online retailers are flirting with the high street. ebusiness executives in pureplay online firms are looking to the high street for further growth opportunities. Amazon is launching collection lockers throughout the UK. 6 Net-A-Porter trialed seasonal pop-up stores in London and New York. 7 PayPal is bringing online payment into physical stores like Home Depot. Retailers like Cabela s and Pixmania have expanded from web-oriented operations to open national store chains. All these firms have one thing in common they all bring digitally driven customer experiences to the high street. Mobile is bringing digital into the store in an unstructured way. Consumers are embracing mobile to access data and interact with retailers while in stores. A quarter of European online adults who own a mobile phone now use their handsets to photograph products in order to seek

4 Powering The Agile Store 3 immediate feedback from friends while they are shopping. 8 While many ebusiness executives are mobile-optimizing their existing websites, all too often these efforts are in isolation, leading to disjointed experiences such as mobile and store price disparity. Leading mobile thinkers like Walmart are creating mobile-unique experiences that leverage the power of the smartphone to influence customers as they shop offline, tying together mobile and the in-store experience (see Figure 2). Figure 1 European Shoppers Have High Expectations Of Digitally Enabled Stores When shopping in a store, assume the shop assistants are equipped with a mobile device: what do you expect them to be able to do for you with the mobile device? Check pricing Check additional store inventory when the shelf is empty Answer technical/spec questions I may have Check inventory availability at nearby stores Look up expected replenishment dates for out of stock items Reserve products for me to pickup Show me product information (e.g., images or customer reviews) Perform a checkout for me (without going to a traditional checkout aisle) Other None/don t know 3% 1% 24% 19% Base: European online adults (18+); US online adults (18+) (multiple responses accepted) Source: European Technographics Retail, Customer Experience, And Travel Online Survey, Q4 2012, North American Technographics Retail Online Survey, Q (US) 12% 27% 70% 65% 55% 62% 38% 60% 48% 60% 40% 58% EU-7 US 39% 51% 37% 44% European shoppers in general have higher expectations of digitally enabled store associates than US shoppers do. Source: Forrester Research, Inc.

5 Powering The Agile Store 4 Figure 2 Walmart s Contextually Aware Mobile App Enhances The In-Store Shopping Experience Walmart s mobile app uses location technology to understand whether the user is in a Walmart store or not. By considering the shopper s location, Walmart can deliver a contextually relevant experience tailored to the exact store the shopper is currently in. Source: Walmart mobile app Source: Forrester Research, Inc. Enter the agile store: a digitally enhanced retail experience Multichannel retailers have a key advantage over their pure-play competitors. They have physical locations, people, and inventory close to their customers. Rather than seeing this as a costly overhead, retailers must bring the best of digital into the store environment to enable agility and drive down the cost of operating their stores while delivering an enhanced digital experience for customers. 9 This means ebusiness executives must think beyond point solutions and design a digital store technology strategy that delivers a range of shopper and associate benefits (see Figure 3).

6 Powering The Agile Store 5 Figure 3 Digital Technologies Connect Shoppers And Associates While In-Store Key services Customer life-cycle stage Location services; product finder Discover Shopper Accessibility Clienteling; product content Endless aisle; mobile POS Explore Buy Store associate Loyalty services; ratings and reviews Engage In-store digital technology should aim to help both shoppers and associates connect to digital content and processes that enhance all stages of the customer life cycle Source: Forrester Research, Inc. The Digitally Enabled Store Serves The Customer As Part Of An Overall Experience Digital technology has the ability to enhance the experience a shopper has at all stages of the customer life cycle. All too often, digital technology is deployed as a point solution serving only one use case. Examples like UK health and beauty retailer Boots Advantage Card kiosk or Kodak s Picture Kiosk satisfy a single need and in many cases do a good job, but they can be expensive and inflexible. ebusiness executives must think more strategically when evaluating in-store technology and must focus on how solutions can add value at every stage of the customer life cycle. This means designing integrated, cross-touchpoint digital experiences that enable: Digital discovery. Mobile shopping apps like Milo and shopkick are bridging the digitalto-physical divide by creating seamless customer journeys from the Web to physical stores. ebusiness executives can help drive physical store visits by building online and mobile functionality, including store locators and real-time stock checkers, leveraging the fact that mobile users are turning to their smartphones to help inform them as they shop. 10 Digital exploration. Digital tools open up opportunities for customers to explore and configure highly complex products, allowing them to explore a vast range of options that a single store could never stock. Audi City is a digital car showroom in central London that does exactly that

7 Powering The Agile Store 6 (see Figure 4). Prospective buyers can explore Audi models via Microsoft Surface touchscreen terminals and gesture-controlled interactive video displays. The level of immersion created means that 70% of the cars sold through the showroom are done so with no test drive and nine out of 10 purchases are with customers new to the Audi brand. 11 Digitally enhanced sales. Blending online and offline sales and returns is a key strategy that many multichannel retailers are pursuing. However, ebusiness executives often struggle to integrate online payment systems into in-store points of sale (POS) to create a seamless experience. PayPal s instore app turns a shopper s smartphone into a payment device, allowing POS terminals to process PayPal payments via a bar code created by the app (see Figure 5). The PayPal app also acts as a digital wallet, storing receipts for transactions and creating a vital webto-store link. Digital engagement post-sale. Digital engagement does not end with a sale. Macy s has partnered with Intel to develop Beauty Spot, an interactive makeup kiosk that guides shoppers through the purchase journey. 12 The touchscreen kiosk brings digital merchandising and crosssales into Macy s stores, but it also enables shoppers to reach out of the stores to social networks for advice and guidance. Shoppers can see ratings and reviews of products as they browse, shopping lists to themselves for later consideration, and post links to what they are browsing or buying to Facebook and Twitter.

8 Powering The Agile Store 7 Figure 4 Audi City Is A Virtual Car Showroom Powered By Interactive Digital Displays Audi City brings the entire Audi range to life using interactive digital displays in a small location in central London. Using digital technology enables Audi to create a rich experience using a fraction of the floor space of a traditional showroom. Source: Audi website (UK) Source: Forrester Research, Inc.

9 Powering The Agile Store 8 Figure 5 PayPal s instore App Powers Multichannel Shopping And Returns PayPal s instore app acts as both a payment mechanism and a digital wallet to store receipts, opening up opportunities for retailers to become more agile in how they process multichannel orders and returns. Source: PayPal mobile app Source: Forrester Research, Inc. Digitally Enabled Associates And Processes Level The Playing Field With Pure Plays Digital tools and digitally enabled processes open up the opportunity for stores to be more flexible, transforming what in the past were considered expensive overheads into a source of competitive advantage. ebusiness executives bringing digital technology into their stores are helping their firms rethink how stores hold stock, how labor is allocated to tasks, and how stores can become more of a network of complementary locations rather than standalone venues (see Figure 6). Digitally enabled stores open up opportunities to: Drive efficiencies in stock holding, allocation, and shipping. Toy retailer Toys R Us is leveraging VendorNet s distributed order management system to pick, pack, and ship ecommerce orders from more than 800 stores. Handling more than 120,000 orders per day at peak volume, Toys R Us fulfills more than 25% of its web orders from store stock. Of these orders, around a third are for products that are slow-moving or inactive in the stores. Distributing online order fulfillment allows Toys R Us to optimize its inventory holding across its store estate and increase the full-price sell-through rate, reducing in-store mark-downs.

10 Powering The Agile Store 9 Respond more effectively to changing market conditions. UK retailer Kiddicare employs electronic shelf-edge labels to ensure that online and offline pricing is consistent (see Figure 7). Kiddicare recognizes the need to be price-competitive with major online retailers like Amazon, but rather than undercut Amazon on every product, Kiddicare combines web analytics with instore mobile data to identify which of its products are the most browsed. 13 It then price-matches this hot list of products against major online and offline competitors, with multiple daily store price changes enabled through the electronic labeling technology (see Figure 8). Bring web-style analytics and insight into the store environment. ebusiness executives enjoy highly detailed analytics on their websites, but store managers have traditionally had to work more on gut feel. However, a range of solutions are appearing that leverage consumer mobile phones to generate rich analytics about customer interactions with retail stores. UK department store Debenhams measures customer dwell time by tracking how long shoppers are connected to the free in-store Wi-Fi. Firms such as Euclid International are providing retailers with richer insights by using Wi-Fi sensors to track shopper repeat visits, monitor how many shoppers walk past a store, and assess how stores local to one another cannibalize foot traffic. Experiment with new store formats. Virgin Media is experimenting with its new digitally enhanced flagship store in London. The Our House concept store is an environment designed to mimic shoppers homes, showing them how they would use Virgin Media services such as cable TV or Wi-Fi in practice (see Figure 9). Microsoft Kinect-controlled displays help shoppers build product bundles to suit their needs, with ipad-equipped store associates on hand to convert a shopper s virtual shopping cart into an order. The store aims to bring a sense of experience and theater to retail. Empower associates to create experiences. Nordstrom has invested in digitally enabling its sales associates, equipping them with ipads that serve multiple functions including acting as a mobile POS, checking inventory, or placing an order from another store. Nordstrom is now looking to go beyond simply digitizing existing store processes by creating differentiated digital retail experiences. For instance, menswear associates use their ipads to collaborate with shoppers to design bespoke suits, which are then made to measure and shipped to shoppers homes in two weeks. 14

11 Powering The Agile Store 10 Figure 6 Store Digitization Can Help Optimize The Three Major Cost Drivers Of The Store Estate Store cost drivers People Inventory Property Agile tactics Impact Pickup in-store Satisfy online orders immediately from store stock Endless aisle Enable stores to sell the full range of products Dynamic pricing Rapidly flex in-store pricing to competitive changes or deals Ship from store Prevent online out-of-stock situations and allow flexible allocation of inventory to optimize margins Empowered associates Enable store associates to access loyalty data and rich product content Experiential stores Enable stores to offer value-add services that differentiate Pop-up stores Make more flexible and dynamic use of property portfolio In-store analytics Develop a deeper understanding of shopper behavior in-store Source: Forrester Research, Inc.

12 Powering The Agile Store 11 Figure 7 Kiddicare Deploys Electronic Shelf-Edge Labels To Enable Dynamic Price Changes Product pricing is displayed via an epaper-based electronic shelfedge label. This allows additional data such as mobile-scannable bar codes to be dynamically deployed to provide shoppers with access to further digital merchandising via their smartphone. Source: ZBD Displays website Source: Forrester Research, Inc.

13 Powering The Agile Store 12 Figure 8 Kiddicare Combines Internal And External Data Sources To Remain Price-Competitive Web shopper In-store shopper Web analytics data Mobile data Competitor price feeds Most browsed products list Price changes Combining web analytics, mobile in-store behavioral data, and competitor pricing feeds allows Kiddicare to remain price-competitive with its main online rivals via daily price changes to both stores and the Web. ecommerce platform POS Shelf-edge label Source: Forrester Research, Inc. Figure 9 Virgin Media s Our House Flagship Store Brings A Sense Of Theater To Retail Virgin Media s concept store in London does away with traditional retail design. The store is designed to mimic a shopper s home environment to show how Virgin Media services would be used in practice. Traditional point-of-sale terminals have been replaced by ipad-enabled store associates who help shoppers use in-store digital tools to select the right products. Source: Virgin Media website Source: Forrester Research, Inc.

14 Powering The Agile Store 13 Recommendations Retail Stores are set for a digital makeover The face of retail is changing. Over the next decade, the current wave of in-store digital experimentation will turn into a full-scale rollout. ebusiness executives are ideally placed to lead the development of in-store digital strategies for their firms. They combine the necessary technical knowledge with a cross-functional view of their organization. Point solutions developed in isolation, serving only one use case, will struggle to find a business case. Rather, ebusiness executives will address consumer needs at all stages of the customer life cycle by developing compelling and sophisticated strategies to leverage digital assets in the physical retail store. Those ebusiness executives who achieve this will find that they can: Create a compelling case for in-store digitization. Successful ebusiness executives will develop a more rounded in-store digitization strategy that builds out the base capabilities (Wi-Fi, devices, training, etc.) and then creates differentiated, digital experiences that serve shoppers at all stages of the customer life cycle. Business cases must address both customer drivers and store cost drivers, leveraging digital technology to optimize sales and service to customers while reducing the store cost base. Lead the reinvention of their stores around digital experiences. Digital technology will come to the fore as retailers right-size their store chains to balance online and offline sales. Consumers have high expectations of digitally enabled stores and are keen to engage; as consumer technology, such as smartphones and tablets, becomes ever more mainstream and sophisticated, consumers expectations of what brands can deliver to them will increase. ebusiness executives who lead the implementation of agile commerce strategies will produce opportunities to blend online and offline commerce as they create platforms that provide an enterprisewide view of stock, pricing, and product content. These core agile commerce systems and processes will empower a buy anywhere, fulfill anywhere paradigm that will enable their firms to reinvent their store experiences. Bring web-style analytics to the store environment. By combining technologies such as location-based technology in consumer smartphones, Wi-Fi, RFID, CCTV, and Near Field Communication (NFC), ebusiness executives have the opportunity to develop a richly detailed analytical view of the store environment. Compared with offline retail, online interactions give ebusiness executives a wealth of measurable and actionable insight into their customers behaviors. As ebusiness executives are already attuned to analyzing and acting on this data, they are well positioned to lead their traditional retail colleagues in developing the same level of cross-touchpoint insight. To achieve this, ebusiness executives must work cross-functionally, combining data sources siloed in areas such as store operations, supply chain, loss prevention, and customer insights.

15 Powering The Agile Store 14 Supplemental Material Methodology Forrester conducted the European Technographics Retail, Customer Experience, And Travel Online Survey, Q4 2012, fielded in September and October 2012 of 13,911 European individuals in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the UK. This survey is based on an online population of people ages 16 and older who are members of the Ipsos-MORI online panel. Ipsos weighted the data by age, sex, online frequency, and hours spent online to demographically represent the online adult population in each country. For results based on a randomly chosen sample of this size (N = 13,911), there is 95% confidence that the results have a statistical precision of plus or minus 0.8% of what they would be if the entire population of Western European online individuals ages 16 and older had been surveyed. This confidence interval can widen to 3.1% when the data is analyzed at a country level. The sample used by Ipsos is not a random sample; while individuals have been randomly sampled from the Ipsos panel for this survey, they have previously chosen to take part in the Ipsos online panel. For its North American Technographics Retail Online Survey, Q (US), Forrester conducted an online survey fielded in April 2012 of 4,491 US individuals ages 18 to 88. For results based on a randomly chosen sample of this size (N = 4,491), there is 95% confidence that the results have a statistical precision of plus or minus 1.46% of what they would be if the entire population of US online individuals ages 18 and older had been surveyed. Forrester weighted the data by age, gender, income, broadband adoption, and region to demographically represent the adult US online population. The survey sample size, when weighted, was 4,358. (Note: Weighted sample sizes can be different from the actual number of respondents to account for individuals generally underrepresented in online panels.) Please note that this was an online survey. Respondents who participate in online surveys have in general more experience with the Internet and feel more comfortable transacting online. The data is weighted to be representative for the total online population on the weighting targets mentioned, but this sample bias may produce results that differ from Forrester s offline benchmark survey. The sample was drawn from members of MarketTools online panel, and respondents were motivated by receiving points that could be redeemed for a reward. The sample provided by MarketTools is not a random sample. While individuals have been randomly sampled from MarketTools panel for this particular survey, they have previously chosen to take part in the MarketTools online panel.

16 Powering The Agile Store 15 Endnotes 1 As consumers are more likely to own mobile devices and spend more of their time online than ever before, they are also likely now more than ever to use the Web to support their purchases. By 2016, Forrester predicts that more than half of the dollars spent in US retail will be influenced by the Web. While there is a variety of activities that constitute web shopping research (e.g., using a store locator, reading customer reviews), the biggest threat to ebusiness professionals in retail is that disparate pricing for many stores and products is now exposed. This demands that retailers proactively and constructively address these differences if they want to survive. See the June 12, 2012, US Cross-Channel Retail Forecast, 2011 To 2016 report. 2 By 2017, more than half of all spending on music and DVDs will be online, as will more than one-quarter of all spending on books. If stores are to remain relevant to the customer experience in an age where digital fulfillment of media products becomes ever more popular though services such as Spotify or Netflix, a reinvention of the physical environment is essential. See the March 13, 2013, European Online Retail Forecast, 2012 To 2017 report. 3 While 28% of European online adults (18+) who researched a product before buying it relied on an inperson visit to a shop, 20% used Amazon, 20% used a search engine, and 14% used retailer-specific websites. Traditional touchpoints such as catalogs and TV have been eclipsed by digital ones. The dominance of the store is set to slip; however, ebusiness executives have an opportunity to leverage their shoppers propensity to embrace digital research by better integrating digital technology into the physical environment. Source: European Technographics Retail, Customer Experience, And Travel Online Survey, Q CMOs of business-to-consumer (B2C) companies have lately called on shopper marketers to address the growing complexity of the impact of digital on in-store purchasing. Forrester recently conducted a deep-dive study into consumer purchasing behavior and found that today s shopper is multichannel and value-focused. Read this report to understand how and where North American consumers do their research before purchasing and how to best design a shopper marketing strategy that takes advantage of the increasing popularity of digital channels for shopping research. See the August 27, 2012, The Role Of Digital In The Path To Purchase report. 5 Source: chloe, Jessops back in action as a multichannel retailer, Internet Retailing, March 28, 2013 ( internetretailing.net/2013/03/jessops-back-in-action-as-a-multichannel-retailer/). 6 Source: Pickup Locations, Amazon.com ( html?nodeid= ). 7 Source: Window Shop App, Net-A-Porter ( 8 Twenty-five percent of European online adults (18+) who own a mobile phone reported that they had taken a picture of a product to share with their friends or ask their opinion in the past three months. Source: European Technographics Retail, Customer Experience, And Travel Online Survey, Q Retailers are ditching the term multichannel. Instead, in the era of agile commerce, they talk about delivering a buy anywhere, fulfill anywhere experience to their customers. In pursuit of this vision,

17 Powering The Agile Store 16 ebusiness leaders and their peers in-store operations are embarking on an aligned journey to digitize the in-store experience by empowering customers and sales associates alike with best-in-class mobile and interactive technologies. The business case for this investment is twofold: first to prevent the loss of in-store sales, and second to create an endless aisle where stores can capture sales for items beyond those on the shelf. This report will help ebusiness professionals identify best-of-breed in-store digital experiences and the technology behind them, as well as understand their role in building out these experiences. See the February 7, 2012, The Digitization Of The In-Store Experience report. 10 Almost a quarter of European online adult (18+) mobile phone users have used their phone to locate a nearby store or to check store hours. Source: European Technographics Retail, Customer Experience, And Travel Online Survey, Q Source: Audi City Configurator, Razorfish ( htm). 12 Source: Giving Cosmetics Counters a New Face with Digital Signage, Intel ( newsroom/kits/nrf/2012/pdfs/macys_giving-cosmetics-counters-new-face.pdf) and Macy s puts you in the Beauty Spot, YouTube ( 13 Kiddicare encourages shopper mobile use in its stores by offering free Wi-Fi. Shoppers are encouraged to use the Kiddicare mobile app to scan QR codes on product labels to access further product information, such as reviews or videos. These scans not only unlock valuable digital merchandising for the shoppers but also provide Kiddicare with a rich source of data on which products shoppers are actually looking at instore. Combining this data with web analytics data on which products online shoppers are browsing allows the retailer to create a list of the key products for which it must be price-competitive. Source: Kiddicare ( and zbdsolutions ( 14 Source: Lauren Indvik, You Can Now Order Made-to-Measure Suits via ipad App in Nordstrom, Mashable, March 8, 2012 (

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