Canadian Retailer - Store 2016 - 57

Frank + Oak was selling in areas where
they had no brick-and-mortar stores.
By studying the data, they were able
to geotarget customers who buy online and drop into a store in a specific
area. When they did that, online sales
defied expectations: they went up in
those areas, not down. The online and
physical stores worked together to appeal to customers and help the company grow further.
Song says that one of his strategies

is to hire the best people around, in
part because customers expect a high
level of service, but also because the
store needs observant, intelligent associates who can communicate customer needs to management. "I definitely recommend retailers invest a
lot more in talented, quality service,"
says Song. "Online gives you data
analytics, but in store people make
observations and ask the questions
you may not ask yourself."

The digital-physical divide is a ruse.
It's not an either/or decision but a
both/and proposition. Retailers need
to speak to customers in both spheres
because customers live in both places.
"Instead of spending time saying
'stores are not the way of the future'
or 'we're not seeing the same traffic as
past years,' you need to ask 'what can I
do that aligns with my brand to create
a unique experience in my stores?'"
says Song. "And I'd say that when you
start thinking that way, you see there
is actually a huge prospect for growth
opportunities within physical stores."
A way forward

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All this information must depress
the retailer who deals with legacy technologies and the daunting, expensive
challenge of converting to the new
world of retail. But it can be done, Jackman says, and it must be done.
Jackman advises retailers to reorganize their business structures. No
longer should retailers have separate
departments for physical and digital
stores. Instead, there should be a brand
marketing department. The same goes
with P&L: separate P&Ls lead to separate strategies and a fragmented approach to the customer. "If you have not
integrated your digital strategy with
your physical strategy, if you have not
looked at your investments in the digital world as simply a part of your total
retail business proposition, your total
business performance, and a return on
investment capital, then you are missing the main point," says Jackman.
The old blueprint for retail success
is still true today: Location, location,
location. The only difference is that
retailers are increasingly found online and in specific physical stores.
"If a retailer truly understands where
customers are today, then they will naturally follow the path that takes them
to some measure of physical stores-
fewer than has historically been the
case with most retailers-and digital
and social commerce."
Location, location, location: it's the
same blueprint but there's a new world
to apply it to.

STORE 2016 | CANADIAN RETAILER

| 57

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