Omni channel experience: The new way of retailing connecting online and offline sales

Omni-Channel Experience: The new way of retailing connecting onlineand offline sales

PUBLICATIONJanuary, 2014

Case studies, best practices and trends to empower the bridgebetween online and offline

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IndexIntroduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

How To Think And Create An Omni-Channel Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Omni-Experience At Store’s Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121.1. Omni-Touchpoint: Store Window And Se . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131.2. Omni-Touchpoint: Store Window And Social Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181.3. Omni-Touchpoint: Store Window And Brand’s Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221.4. Omni-Touchpoint: Store Window And Brand’s E-Commerce/M-Commerce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271.5. Omni-Touchpoint: Store Window And Bramd’s App . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311.6. Omni-Touchpoint: Store Window And Online Adv/Promotion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Omni-Experience In-Store . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382.1. Omni-Touchpoint: In-Store And Se . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402.2. Omni-Touchpoint: In-Store And Social Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432.3. Omni-Touchpoint: In-Store And Brand’s Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472.4. Omni-Touchpoint: In-Store And Brand’s E-Commerce/M-Commerce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502.5. Omni-Touchpoint: In-Store And Brand’s App . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Omni-Experience At Fitting Room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 593.1. Omni-Touchpoint: Fitting Room And Social Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603.2. Omni-Touchpoint: Fitting Room And Brand’s E-Commerce/M-Commerce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 643.3. Omni-Touchpoint: Fitting Room And Brand’s App . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

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We are all shoppers. We are all consumers. The incredible thing is - we all have our unique and personal view on the shopping experience. Retail industry is undergoing a complete makeover. Historic shifts have taken place in

the fields of economics, demographics, consumerism and technology. All that was known about retail till now has suddenly become a thing of the past. No more ‘typical’ consumer, no more ‘geography’, and no ‘one size fits all’

solutions anymore.

We are living in a world where ‘total information available’ and ‘ways to access this information’ follow Moore’s law or probably outrun it. This instantaneous availability of information at our fingertips is constantly changing

everything about us. How we communicate; how we seek, receive and process information and how we entertain ourselves has changed dramatically over years. The newest addition is - how we shop.

Shopping experience in no longer confined to the physical walls of the store. There are more ways to instantly connect to information, people, brands, companies than ever before. Consumers, empowered with technology

and information, actually can know more about the product than the salespeople at the store. All this helps consumers make better and informed decisions.

These ‘smart consumers’ are constantly rewriting the sense of the retail industry. They control - When, Where and How to shop. They don’t think in terms of channels but in terms of getting things done easily, quickly, cheaply and

even in funny ways. And they want it... Anytime... Anywhere.

Welcome to the world of omni-present Shopping!

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IntroductionOver the past years, marketing approach has changed - from single channel marketing to multi-channel marketing - and now it has evolved to omni-channel marketing strategy for the brands and omni-experience for the customers.

Customer experiences a single type of touch-point.Only one channel is offered.

Customer experiences multiple channels.There is a single customer view but the channels do not deliver the same brand experience, by acting separately.

Customer experiences a brand, not a channel.There is a single view on the customer and he is serviced consistently across all channels.

Multi-channel meant retailers sold directly to the customer via more than one channel but they were isolated channel-centric experiences. One of the main differences between multi-channel marketing and omni-channel marketing is that in omni-channel marketing there is a seamless approach to the consumer across all the available channels. Key point is that these channels should work simultaneously and be integrated into one another. It’s not just about sales, but also about communication strategy.

Even though e-commerce and web promotion were considered by marketers also in multi-channel marketing, but in reality what they did was just to make sure that the brand’s website address is on the shopping bag, or the TV/print ad refers to the web site or that there is a store locator function on the web homepage. Omni-channel marketing implies unfettered and infinite access to the brand’s information and products irrespective of time and/or geography, in all possible brand’s channels and/or customers’ devices.

Multi-channel

Omni-channel

Single channel

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Another interesting transformation has been in the classical sales funnel. Shopping experience was divided into phases - the steps that the potential customer undertakes before making the purchase.

These were: Awareness, Knowledge, Consideration, Selection, Purchase, Loyalty, Advocacy.

The difference today, thanks to innovative technologies, is that the contemporary consumer can start his/her experience with a brand at any stage. Moreover, the time to move from the phase “I don’t know the brand”, to the phase “I just purchased the brand online” can be less than ever. Thanks to the social media like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram in EU and US or Weibo and WeChat in China, a person can be super loyal to a brand, even without purchasing any of its products. Retailers cannot think about the customers’ behaviour as a linear model, it’s more chaotic. It can start at any point - from a simple query on the search engine, or from social media, or from the brand’s website, or from the physical store and so on. The second move of the potential client is also unpredictable - he might visit the brand’s website

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from the Desktop and later continue his shopping experience on his mobile, or visits the brand’s social media account while browsing the magazine with its advertising. The important job of brands/retailers is to be prepared to provide the customer, at any possible touchpoint, an excellent and seamless experience of the brand.

This is easier said than done and is a major reason why a lot of companies have not yet switched to the broader capabilities of omni-channel strategy.

Omni-channel experience, for the customers, is strictly connected to the development of web possibilities and digital technologies. These technologies, by skillfully blending the physical world with the digital, provide an entertaining and emotional shopping experience. It is the Internet of Thing (IoT) - the new frontier for fitting the customer needs, that is evoking a “Wow”.

Some brand managers can dismiss these by branding digital technologies as ‘toys for the teenagers’ and saying that their mature clientele are not really interested. But don’t forget that

Millennial Generation, which is the present as well as the future consumers of such brands, were born with smartphones in their hands and for this generation there is no universe without internet and digital devices. Basically the shopping needs haven’t changed, but the behaviour has and the brick‐and‐mortar retailers need to adapt to the needs of information‐hungry and mobile‐empowered shopper.

With this publication we want to bring to you all the different kind of omni-channel experience the fashion, sport and luxury brands provide today and the future trends of the market.

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How To Think And Create An Omni-Channel ExperienceCompanies are continuously pondering as how to increase the sales, make people purchase products, make customers return to either offline or to online stores for more purchases, to convert “likers” to buyers. Should you launch an app? Perhaps a social media campaign? May be some sales promotion on the website to attract customers?

The answer is that such a decision should not be based on stand alone questions but on the overall omni-experience of the clients - to make the shopping process more entertaining, personal and unique.

We have to look at the situation from the customers’ perspective - what we, the usual shoppers, did today during our shopping time? What kind of habits do we have? What are the unmet needs? Do we check prices online when we are inside or near the store? Do we ask and read opinions of the others on the web? Do we share our wishes with friends or strangers on social media accounts? These questions will give an insight into the habits and expectations of today’s shopper.

The job of the retailers is to be aware of the customers habits and to be ready to meet these habits while providing the best seamless shopping experience.

Omni-channel marketing is relatively new topic and there is no strict definition and methodology. We, at Fashionbi, are trying to develop a ready-to-use methodology for the marketers to empower them to create a consistent and authentic omni-channel experience for the clients.

Fashionbi’s methodology is quite simple. All you need to do is to map the omni-touchpoints, taking into consideration the possible situations where the client can be found; understand the client’s behaviour and support him/her with timely information and service. Every omni touchpoint combines the offline and online experience of the client, thereby ensuring the unique omni-experience with the brand. First step is to make a list of the brand’s offline channels (or offline experience of the customer) and a list of the online channels (or online experience of the customer).

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Among the offline channels/experience could be:

› Store Window

› Merchandising

› Store

› Events

› Fitting Room

› Offline Advertising and Promotion

Among the online channels/experience could be:

› Search Engine

› Brand’s m-commerce/e-commerce

› Social Media

› Brand’s applications for smartphones and tablets

› Brand’s website

› Online Advertising and Promotion

The combination of the offline and online experience engenders numerous variations of the omni-experience. The nexus between these offline and online channels will be the modern innovative technologies. Technologies that can smoothly transport a person from the real world to the world of internet without any interruptions in the brand experience.

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OfflineExperience

OnlineExperience

OmniExperience

Store Window

Store

Fitting Room

Merchandising

Events

Offline Adv/Promotion

Search Engines

Social Media

Brand’s Website

Brand’s e-commerce m-commerce

Brand’s App

Online adv/promotion

TECHNOLOGY

Other...Other...

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Second step of the methodology is to map these possible combinations and describe every situation: what the customer can do at this omni-touchpoint.

OfflineExperience

OnlineExperience

Description of situation: what the potential customer can do at this

omni touchpoint

Examples of what the brands are doing now at

this omni touchpoint

Opportunities of what can be done to improve omni-experience

of customers

Store Window

Search Engines

Social Media

Brand’s Website

Brand’s e-commerce m-commerce

Brand’s App

Online adv/promotion

© Fashionbi - The Omni-Experience Map is property of Fashionbi by ADVB Strategic

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As an example, imagine a person next to the store window with the smartphone or tablet, what might he/she do?

› Search for information about the brand if he/she is unaware of the brand

› Check and compare the prices of the products on the web

› Check where to buy this brand online

› Search the location of other stores

› Visit the social media accounts of the brand for further engagement/information

› Virtual fitting of the products from the store window

› etc

By asking these questions, a brand manager can readily understand if something has already been done at this stage to meet the client’s needs, and if not, it indicates the possibilities for further development.

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1. Omni-Experience At Store’s WindowAs always, a store’s window is one of the main touchpoints where a client decides - to enter or not to enter the store. Visual displays still play the biggest role in attracting people inside the store and in communicating the merchandise to them.

But now these windows have started to change and with the help of technology, they are coming to ‘life’. They can ‘see’ when a person is around the store and ‘tell’ him/her about various ways of enjoying and engaging with the brand - on the web and on various social media.

A variety of questions can spring to the mind of a person when he/she is at the store window of a brand. What is this brand about? What is the price level? If store is closed now, when will it open? A tourist or a person from a different city might be interested in knowing if this brand exists in their home city. Not always will people enter a store to ask such questions to the sales staff. What they can do is to use SE or check the brand’s website.

Moreover, “window shopping” is fast changing from “looking at or checking out” to actual shopping at the window! With a high speed of innovation, one by one the companies have started to

implement digital environment to the physical store windows - selling the products directly on street!

One blogger wrote, “One store had a canvas in the window with ‘This could be your Instagram photo’ printed on the canvas. I loved that they presented a practical idea to window shoppers. Unfortunately they were closed, and there was no website or social media info on the window itself – so I walked by. If they had their website URL, or a QR code that I could have scanned that took me to their website, and from there directed me to uploading an Instagram photo for them to print on canvas, they would have had a new customer. They missed the boat.”*

This is not a standalone example. How many potential clients does a brand loose because of lack of communication and incoherence between the brand’s channels?

*http://brainygirlwebsolutions.com

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OfflineExperience

OnlineExperience

Description of situation: what the potential customer can do at this Omni TouchPoint

Examples of what the brands are doing now at this Omni TouchPoint

Opportunitier of what can be done to improve Omni Experience of customers

Store Window

Search Engines

• Search for information about the brand• Check prices on the web• Check where to buy this brand online• Check what people say about the brand on the web• Find special offers on brand’s products on the web• Search the location of the stores

Social Media

• Visit the social media accounts of the brand for further engagement/information• Check promotions/coupons on the brand’s social media channels• Share the products from store window on social media• Check what people say about the brand on social media

Brand’s Website

• Have additional information about the brand/product• Check if the brand provides e-commerce/m-commerce service• Check the whole collection, since on store window only the small part is presented• Find the other branded stores• Check the timetable of the store

Brand’s e-commerce m-commerce

Brand’s App

• Virtual fitting of the products from the store window• Engagement with store window

Online adv/promotion

• Watch/download/share the video/photo campaign of the product/collection

Placecast ShopAlerts technology, case study The North Face

Digitalized shopping windows, case study Ted Baker

Beacon technology and proximity marketing

Adoptive storefront and bluetooth low energy technology

Permanent augmented reality of store’s window with seasonal change of collections

Wireless energy and high speed data transmission

• Check/compare the prices of the products inside the store window and on the e-commerce/m-commerce• Add the products to the e-commerce/m-commerce wish list• Add the products to the e-commerce/m-commerce shopping bag • Buy the products directly from the store window

GucciPuma

GuessStefanel

DieselAldoOVS

BelstaffCastello d’OroJimmy Choo

MorellatoPeuterey

MoschinoGucciCasadeiEscada

TriumphRay BanBloomingdaleTissot

GeoxIzzueH&MBlancpain

BoggiKate SpadeAdidas Neo

TerranovaIntimissimiSephora

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1.1. Omni-Touchpoint: Store Window And SE

When a person is next to the brand’s store window and he needs to find information about the brand or the prices of the products, what does he/she do?

Description of the situation: What the potential customer can do at this Omni TouchPoint:• Search for information about the brand• Check prices on the web• Check where to buy this brand online• Check what people say about the brand on the web• Find special offers on the web of brand’s products• Search the location of other stores

The most common and the easiest way is to ‘search online’. The most important thing, at this TouchPoint, is that the first search results that appear must be the official brand sources.

Below are the examples for Gucci. Irrespective of what your search query is – ‘prices for a bag’; ’shop address’ or just information about the brand, the first source is the brand’s official website, specially developed for smart phones and tablets.

Also, the prices of the products are available on the official website, and thanks to the mobile version of the website, a person can immediately start to shop from his/her device. If you google – ‘Gucci store in London’, the store locator function of the official website is on the top.

www-m.gucci.comGoogle Search, Gucci store London

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Searching the products and prices on smart phones or on tablets is also very easy. In addition to this, Gucci also informs the customers about exclusive offers, available only on gucci.com, and about their free shipping service.

iPad, www-m.gucci.comiPhone, www-m.gucci.comiPhone , www-m.gucci.com

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The same logic can be applied to the situation where someone is looking for special offers on the products of a particular brand. The first sources to appear on the search results must be the brand’s official website and the official online store of the brand. This may guarantee that the potential client continues his experience with the brand on the official sites and that the potential purchase too will be done on the brand’s offline/online store.

Since the practice of Showrooming* concerns the brand managers as in that their stores are becoming quasi-showroom for the online retailers, it becomes imperative for the brand to lead a potential customer, for all his brand related searches, to the official sources of the brand. In addition, it’s absolutely critical to think about the transparency of prices inside the normal store and on the brand’s online store.

*Showrooming - To examine the merchandise in a traditional brick and mortar retail store but not purchasing it, and then searching online to find a better price for the same item and purchasing it there.

Google Search, special offers PUMA www.shop.puma.com

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Trends and opportunities of what can be

Instead of waiting for the potential customer to pass by the store window or to enter the store or to search for the information, brands can become proactive and welcome them. How? Location based mobile app is the answer. With location-based mobile app, a virtual perimeter can be created around a brand’s store (thanks to geo-fencing technology), and specific messages can be sent to people when they enter this zone.

One of the pioneers in the arena of location-based marketing is Placecast. Placecast delivers patented technology and strategic insight to connect people to the brands they love in the real world. ShopAlerts is their end-to-end mobile monetization solution based on location that is specifically designed to use digital marketing on mobile devices to drive consumers into physical retail environments*.

According to Placecast:

› 1 out of 2 consumers visit a location after receiving ShopAlerts

› 22% of consumers make purchases after receiving ShopALerts

› For 50% of these consumers, the retail visit prompted by the text was unplanned

› Half of ShopAlerts consumers find the program more valuable over time - as they begin to expect offers when near geofenced locations and as offers get more relevant to their interests*

Here is video about Placecast ShopAlerts: Location-Triggered Mobile Marketing (http://fsh.by/JkCP4g).

* http://placecast.net/

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Case study:

Case study The North Face: The North Face wanted to try something innovative to reach their target audience and drive foot traffic into stores, so they decided to leverage Placecast’s location based mobile technology to run a mobile customer loyalty program.

Location-based mobile marketing campaign was done in New York, Boston, San Francisco and Seattle in 2010. The radius of the geo-fences was approximately half-mile around the North Face stores. The text alerts were sent only to those who had opted-in to receive such messages.

Even though specific program response rates are not available publicly, but given that the company later expanded the program to 37 of its retail locations nationwide, it is safe to say that it was a success.

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1.2. Store Window And Social Media

What all can a person do standing next to the brand’s store window if he can easily engage, via his smart phone or tablet, with the brand on social media?

Description of the situation: what the potential customer can do at this Omni TouchPoint:• Visit the social media accounts of the brand for further

engagement/information• Check promotions/coupons on the brand’s social media

channels• Share the products from store window on social media• Check what people say about the brand on social media

Nowadays it is a very common practice for the brand stores to put icons of the social media channels on the store windows. There are no standards in terms of size or measurements or the placement and as a result, such icons are not always visible or eye catching.

Apart from the size and placement of such icons, the other important issue to care about is how to bring the people on the street to the official social media accounts of the brand.

Either person will directly search for the brand’s page on Facebook and/or other channels when he sees the Facebook icon or other icons on the window. In this case there is a huge risk that many other pages, fake ones or the completely unrelated ones, will appear in the search results and the person, mistakenly, will become a fan of a wrong page. With a QR code, a person can be sent directly to the “correct” brand accounts.

Majority examples of combining brand’s store windows and brand’s social media channels are plainly limited to the placement of social media icons or brand’s hashtags. Why is it a limitation? Because these icons or the hashtags just notify a customer that the brand is present on social media without automatically letting him continue his experience on social media.

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Store window of Guess

Store window of Aldo

Store window of Stefanel

Different examples of Social Media reference on storefronts.

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For the month of January 2014, the store windows of Diesel were decorated with the paintings of contemporary artists. This action is connected with #DIESELREBOOT initiative, this hashtag along with the names of the artists was displayed on the stores’ front. Potential client has few options:

- To connect with Diesel directly on Tumbler, typing the URL from the store’s window DIESELREBOOT.TUMBLER.COM

- To visit the personal page of the artist, as indicated on the store’s front, from the mobile device. In case of www.fluate.net, the page was unable to download in China

- To find more information on other social media channels by typing #DIESELREBOOT, for example on Weibo. In this case, the Weibo posts from @Nicolaformichetti will appear in the search.

dieselreboot.tumbler.com

Store window of Diesel, Milan Store window of Diesel, Shanghai

fluate.net #dieselreboot on Weibo evapapamargariti.tumbler

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Below, in the examples of OVS, the brand placed the “Follow us on” sign with the Facebook and Twitter icons on its store windows. It asked the people passing by the store to “follow” and “like” the brand and provided the QR code to do so.

Example of OVS demonstrates a good omni-experience. The Brand has declared the main social media channels where it is present and with the QR code, it allows easy switching from the store window to the engagement on Facebook, Twitter and other social media, and on the webpage of OVS. The webpage too is mobile compatible and poses no difficulties for a person to read the content. A person can easily continue to browse for information or look for brand’s products.

OVS store window

QR code leads to uscn.me/Bnwmv

Variants of OVS Facevook pages via search

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Trends and opportunities of what can be

Ted Baker went further. The company recreated the store window with the social media posts thus giving common people a chance to be a part of the exposition.

On the eve of Christmas, the brand launched a “Merry Kissmas” initiative and ‘Meet Me Under the Mistletoe’ campaign. Ted Baker welcomed its customers and all the people around the world to take a photo under the mistletoe and share the pictures on personal Twitter and Instagram profiles with the hashtag #KissTed. These pictures will then automatically be entered into a competition to win a romantic luxury holiday for two. To enhance the visibility of the campaign, the store at 5th Avenue, New York had digital screens installed, where, after a preliminary filtration by Ted Baker’s staff, all these #KissTed pictures were displayed for the general public.

Similar practice can be applied to share the #lookoftheday pictures and/or the feedbacks from the clients. This will excite the curiosity of people passing next to the store window, as they too, by becoming a client, can show their sense of style on the brand’s front line – the store window.

Store window of Ted Baker

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1.3. Omni-Touchpoint: Store Window And Brand’s Website

Description of the situation: what the potential customer can do at this Omni TouchPoint• Have additional information about the brand/product • Check if the brand provides e-commerce/m-commerce service• Check the whole collection, since on store window only a small

part is presented• Find the other branded stores• Check the timetable of the store

It is a very common practice to indicate brand’s website on the store window these days. More advanced brands are putting QR code to send a potential client directly to their official website, but still cases remain where the website is not mobile or tablet compatible. It shows that the omni experience was not well thought-out by the brand managers.

Examples of Gucci and Moschino demonstrate the placement of brand’s website URL on the windows of the store.

Store window of Moschino, EU Store window of Gucci, EU

Store window of Gucci, China

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Case study:

Here are two examples of H&M brand and Blancpain brand. There is a note on the windows of the store in Shanghai with URL of the brands’ website. If a potential customer will type the indicated URL on a mobile device, he/she will have two options to continue: either with the brand’s website or with the brand’s app. When a potential customer downloads the app he can also use it during the shopping experience. With H&M app, apart from being inspired by the numerous images about seasonal trends, a customer can also receive exclusive promotions and offers at the local store (app is translated in Mandarin). The Blancpain app not only assists the customer in finding the perfect watch but also tells him about the craftsmanship behind. The app also updates them with the latest news. In addition, the app has a Chinese Calendar watch. But there are two limitations: everything is written in English and not in Mandarin and app is very heavy, almost 300 MB.

http://blancpain.com

Store window of H&M

Store window of Blancpain

http://h&m.com

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Example of Casadei and Escada demonstrate how premium brands can place QR code on a store window without compromising the whole luxurious design of the store’s window. Also they show as how to make the QR code more appealing by adding the brand’s logo to the QR code image.

The QR codes are situated at an “eye-level” and are big enough to be scanned with a phone without any difficulty. The only, but a serious problem was that the landing page, where this QR code lead to, was not readable/clickable via a smartphone.

Case study:

Case study Casadei: Call to action is to subscribe to the brand’s newsletter, but one cannot because of the following reasons:

› Page not found

› There is no mobile version of the website or website itself is not mobile compatible.

www.casadei.com

Store windowof Casadei

“Sign up now for exclusive news onwww.casadei.com”

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No doubt the websites of Casadei and Escada are very informative and well designed, but if a brand puts the QR code to provide a possibility for the client to visit the brand’s website from a portable device like a smartphone or a tablet, the website must be mobile responsive, otherwise such QR code is usless and even worse, it leaves a bad taste with the customer who tries it.

Store window of Escada

http://it.escada.com

Case study:

Case study Escada: Call to action was visit brand’s website, but you cannot:

› Website is not mobile responsive.

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Izzue brand, that belongs to the IT Group, indicted the brand’s website, izzue.com, on the store’s window in Shanghai. When a potential client enters this URL in the mobile device, he will be directly sent to the Chinese version of the website. On the website, a potential client can find additional information about products, stores, events and other news. The only limitation is that the website is not mobile compatible. In addition, a customer can connect with the company on various social media like Weibo or on WeChat via QR codes that are displayed on the advertising banner.

Case study:

Case study Izzue:

› Website that is indicated on the store’s front is not mobile compatible

› QR code and social media links on the advertising banner lead to the IT Group’s account on WeChat, despite the fact that Izzue brand has its own WeChat account WeChat ID:ithkithk

Store window of Izzue Adv banner on the store window of Izzue

http://izzue.com

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Almost perfect Omni Experience is shown by Geox brand. There is a QR code for the “One man for 7 days in nonstop rain” campaign.

On Amphibiox.geox - you can read more information about this initiative, watch the video, browse through the collection, share on social media or find the location of a physical store. The potential customer has a really great experience with the brand until he/she decides to buy the shoes online. You can enter the online store but it is not mobile responsive at all.

Case study:

Case study Geox: Call to action was to enter brand’s website, but:

› QR code is hard to notice

› No m-commerce service despite call to action “Buy online”

Store window of Geox

http://amphibiox.geox.com

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Trends and opportunities of what can be

The, sometimes not so easy, QR codes and the simple stickers on the store window can be replaced by a Beacon technology. A Beacon is a bluetooth smart device that can send radio waves to the smart phones and tablets in the radius of 70 meters. This technology provides endless possibilities for the fashion retailers. Beacon can be placed on a store window to send a welcome message to a person in front or near the window and invite him to visit the store or to send a notification with a link to the brand’s website/social media accounts for more information regarding products and offerings. This is proximity marketing. Even if a person won’t physically enter the store now, but through the smart phone, he/she can visit the brand’s website for further information and thus start his experience with the brand.

One of the companies that provides Beacon technology for the retailers is Estimote, Inc. An Estimote Beacon is a small, wireless device that, when placed in a physical space, broadcasts tiny radio signals to smart devices. Smartphones, that are in range are able to ‘hear’ these signals and to estimate their location very precisely.

They can also communicate with the beacon and exchange data and information. Inside each beacon is a non-rechargeable lithium battery that should last up to 2 years*.

* http://estimote.com

Estimote Beacon

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1.4. Omni-Touchpoint: Store Window And Brand’s E-Commerce / M-Commerce

Description of the situation: what the potential customer can do at this Omni TouchPoint• Check/compare the prices of the products inside the store

window and on the e-commerce/m-commerce • Add the products to the e-commerce/m-commerce wish list • Add the products to the e-commerce/m-commerce shopping

bag • Buy the products directly from the store window

It is increasingly becoming a trend to compel the people, who pass by the brick-and-mortar store, to shop the brand online. How? Simply with a proper note on the store’s window. But then this is not a true omni experience. A potential client still cannot truly do “window’s shopping”. There are very few examples of companies who really merge store window with online shopping experience and this is the trend for the close future.

Store window of Terranova

Store window of Intimissimi

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Case study:

Example of Boggi demonstrates that apart from having the URL of the online shop on the store window, QR codes can also be used. But in case of Boggi, to scan the QR code, a person has to literally lie on the ground and even after such an exercise, you still cannot shop online as there is no mobile version of the website. Though there is e-commerce, but there is no m-commerce service. In reality these “stickers” with the URL of brand’s online store do not solve the problem of buying the items on the store window from the window. In such cases, these windows just become another place to notify people that the products of the brand can be purchased online but nothing about the specific items on display at the window. Actual omni experience requires a homogeneous merger between the exposition at the brick-and-mortar and the online shopping, especially shopping on the mobile.

http://shop.boggi.it

Store window of Boggi

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Case study:

In case of Sephora store in Shanghai, passer bys are welcome to the store with a “Free WiFi” note as well as a message to shop online @sephora.cn.

But despite the free WiFi connection, it still will be next to impossible for the visitors to navigate through the website and have additional information about the products inside the store, because website is not mobile compatible. It is totally focussed on the online sales - from the home page , the company is suggesting the range of products to purchase, but a website visitor can barely see it as there is no option for the mobile in-store application or m-commerce service.

http://shop.boggi.it Store window of Sephora

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Kate Spade, together with eBay Inc., launched touchscreen storefront in New York. Four interactive window shops in downtown Manhattan were open 24 hours a day and 7 days a week to allow shoppers to select and order merchandise from Kate Spade Saturday. To purchase, people need to select the items and punch in their cell number to get a text that allows to schedule free same-day delivery.

Another pilot test was made by Adidas in Nürnberg, Germany. The storefront window was remodified to act as a fully functional virtual store with life-sized products. Shoppers could explore, play with and drag the products of interest directly into their smartphone or tablet to purchase them online from Adidas NEO.

Store window of Kate Spade

Store window of Adidas

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Trends and opportunities of what can be

Adaptive storefront can become a reality in the near future. How does it work? Storefront can recognize the person passing by, thanks to Bluetooth low energy (BLE) and analyze the personal data stored on the mobile device (shopping habits and preferences) to offer the right items to the person as per his preferences and even as per the right season.

Shoppers would swipe through personalised content, access product information (price, size and stock availability) and interact directly with it, place items in a virtual shopping cart, and of course make purchase.

Here is a demo of the prototype http://fsh.by/PaIL3g

Store window of Adidas

Adaptive storefront

* http://rehabstudio.com

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Apart from innovative digital screens, there is another interesting service to pay attention to.

Imagine Fashion Window Shopper (iFWS) is a groundbreaking fashion and luxury digital destination featuring the most innovative stores from around the world. The first of its kind, iFWS allows users to ‘window shop’ in live time regardless of location.

The idea of iFWS service is to allow customers to do the virtual window shopping of such stores as Bergdorf Goodman, Harrods, Bloomingdales, Bergdorf Goodman, Barneys and many others.

The same principle can also be applied by the fashion retailers. Many times, it is hard for people to find the same products on the brand’s website or the online store as they saw on the brand’s store window some days ago.

http://www.imaginefashion.com

http://www.bergdorfgoodman.com

* http://www.imaginefashion.com

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1.5. Omni-Touchpoint: Store Window And Brand’s App

Description of the situation: what the potential customer can do at this Omni TouchPoint:• Virtual fitting of the products from the store window• Engagement with store window

In 99.9% of the cases, there is the classical exposition with mannequins, rather than virtual fitting of the brand’s products. Not so many companies are adopting the augmented reality for the store windows. But still there are some early adopters who have demonstrated the augmented reality of the store windows in practice, starting from early ‘10.

To celebrate Triumph Essence collection, brand created a magical experience for their clients in London. Virtual reality was demonstrated not only via store window (men on the image sees a real model in underwear). A virtual mirror inside the store gave a possibility to shoppers to try an underwear without getting changed. All this by creating an avatar and showing the product on the avatar.

Again in London, but this time Ray Ban gave an opportunity to virtually try glasses and interact with the touch screen. But there was now extra effort to drive the customer further to the store or online store. Virtual mirror is not an innovation, since 2008 the brand provides this service directly on its website.

Store window of Triumph Store window of Ray Ban

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Tissot showcased its collection, thanks to augmented reality, twice: in 2010 at Selfridges London and in 2011 at Harrods stores’ windows.

Unfortunately such campaigns are temporary lasting from few days to few weeks. What is the trend for future? Permanent augmented reality of a store’s window, with a seasonal change of collections.

An experience similar to Ray Ban was suggested by Bloomingdale. People on the street were able to try different models of eyeglasses, click a print button and then collect their picture from the salesperson inside the store.

Those who did a trial of this service were really excited about it. People shared their positive experience with the New York Daily News saying that it was a fun experience, they didn’t have the pressure of sales personnel and also they could know the price of the product.

Store window of Bloomingdale Bloomingdale’s store Tissot at Harrod’s store

Tissot at Selfridges’s store

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1.6. Omni-Touchpoint: Store Window And Online Adv/Promotion

Description of the situation: what the potential customer can do at this Omni TouchPoint• Watch/download/share the video/photo campaign of the

product/collection

According to the analysis made by MartiniMedia, advertising agency, in their recent studies agency declared that fashion and luxury companies plan to increase digital spending in advertising.

36% increase in rich media investments

40% increase video investments

57% increase in mobile investments

63% increase in social media investments

Moreover, video content is considered as one of the main formats of advertising and promotion. But its hard to understand as to why brand’s are not spreading their fabulous images and videos directly from the store and the store’s window? If a company invests a significant amount of money in photo and video shooting as well as in its promotion, it‘s important to share the result with sizable number of people and these people can in turn share it even more, also advertising at the own window is free and has through social sharing a viral effect...

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http://www.martinimediainc.com

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The major issue today is that all these advertising images and videos are “static”. Either it’s a poster on the store’s window or a video, but in any case, it’s one sided communication without any possibility for the onlookers to spread the content.

In majority of the cases, when a brand is trying to demonstrate some sort of advertising or promotion content, it uses digital screens. These screens can have the latest video campaign of a product or of a collection or simply can have continuously changing pictures.

Store window of BelstaffStore window of Castello d’OroStore window of Morellato

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Case study:

In a case of Jimmy Choo, they pasted a note on the door of the store regarding a film starring Nicole Kidman.

We don’t know how many people actually went to jimmychoo.com from their home PCs to watch the film.

But what we do know is that it’s quite difficult to find it on the mobile version of the website. Menu on mobile website looks quite long. If it is a temporary mistake or it is always like this - we cannot know. But the question remains - how do I find Nicole Kidman there?

Store window of Jimmy Choo

m.row.jimmychoo.com

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Case study:

A digital screen was installed on the window of Peuterey store in Shanghai. It showcased the video campaign with Yan Ni, the brand’s ambassador. She is very well known in China and hence her name wasn’t displayed with the video.

Such displays, as by Peuterey, can stimulate shoppers to discover more about a brand and to watch the full video with Yan Ni. If a person searches for Peutery on Youkuu, this video is appears at the top of the results. In this promotional video, Yan Ni expresses her happiness to cooperate with Peuterey brand from the early stage of the brand’s entry in China.

Store window of Peuterey http://youkuu.com

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Trends and opportunities of what can be

But what if potential client, besides watching, can also download, save and share the photo and video advertising content? In many cases, a campaign’s videos, the images of fashion or sport or luxury brands are an art and when a person really appreciates such content, he/she will be glad and willing to share it with others via social media.

Brands can benefit a lot from such service:

1. Digital advertising via shop window can empower potential customer to enter a shop and have more precise look on what he saw before (the same as with mannequins )

2. Brands can save additional advertising fee for the promotion on social media if people around can share the brand’s content on their social media timeline.

Technology that can make this plan is wireless energy and high speed data transmission, since Bluetooth or WiFi cannot provide fast exchange of the large data volume like high-resolution images or videos.

LG showcases its innovative Wireless Ultra High-definition transmission technology, which allows you to view games, movies and other essence on Ultra HD TV’s in real time from the smartphone.

Further development can allow to reverse the transmission of data.

With wireless energy, a potential client, when passing next to the digital screen of the store window, can receive the content (adv images or video) on his device. He/she can later share it on his social media accounts and maybe with “check-in” feature, even to notify others where he/she is. It can be a new era for advertising techniques!.

Ultra HD TV by LG IPMS Fraunhofer