Omnichannel: the future of retail?

Only when the retailers thought the industry would collapse, D-mart’s entry in India grew faster despite the e-commerce wave. However, the expectations of a retail customer have changed drastically in the past few years. Though the retail industry has evolved in the past decade, it is still trying best to match the expectations level. 

The role of retailers has changed ever since e-commerce has disrupted the retail industry with its constant technological advancements. The retail sector has had it tough due to the digital disruption and the growing admiration of customers to diverse digital platforms. 

India is emerging as the next big thing in the international retail market after economies such as China and the US. The big market players in the industry are fighting to win over the retail competitive landscape. 

As per recent market research reports, the Indian retail market is likely to cross $ 1 trillion marks. What more interesting is that the Indian e-commerce market has 51% CAGR -the highest in the world. 

Digital platforms are seeing immense growth in the retailing industry with almost every retailing model entering the digital world. In India, there remains a huge number of people who penetrate the internet on a daily basis for the last few years. With the increased use of smartphones, and secure mobile payment solutions, digital portals have got strengthened in the retail markets. 

The internet helps retailers understand their customers better in numerous ways. Each time a customer purchases goods online, it gives crucial information to the marketer that help improve the user experience and retain loyalty. 

Despite the digital incorporation is increasing in the retail industry, a major number of consumers still prefers to touch and feel the product while buying goods. Many customers do not pay until they are fully satisfied with the demo. 

To attract such customers, digital marketers came up with an easy return or exchange policy which has become popular for the retail industry. Having said that, off-line customer experience remains hassle-free to gain traction from such consumers. 

Besides, the online platforms face problems of cut-throat competition with more market entrants occupying market share.  

Why omnichannel is doing great for the retail industry?

The digital presence helps retails to know their customers better. 

  • It helps them connect personally and provide sublime experience in their visit. 
  • It works as a backup where the physical shops cannot reach out to customers in certain cases. 
  • With digital marketing, retailers can have a bigger reach for their physical shops and centers. 

On the other hand, even the online producers and marketers are trying their hands offline to get the little slice of offline retails industry. 

Amazon, one of the biggest market giants in India has captured a big part of the country in a short period.  The company also had acquisitions in whole goods in 2017. It extended its online capabilities with increased online branding on Amazon Prime and other platforms. 

As per retail industry analysis, the personalizing the experiences of customers are given the most importance in the retail markets. With omnipresent retail models, it is possible to gain an overall understanding of the customer’s expectations. By meeting the dynamic needs of the customers, omnipresent business models can have a long way to go in the retail industry.