getty
As retail sales continue their fragile recovery, many businesses are heading in to the biggest retail quarter of the year facing a great deal of uncertainty.
Although non-essential retail has been re-opened for a couple of months, recent footfall data showed a 40% decline as compared to last year.
There is certainly a sense that retail recovery is "hanging by a thread", to quote Helen Dickinson OBE, Chief Executive of The British Retail Consortium.
By focusing on their digital operations, independent retailers and brands can cope with continued unpredictability as well as prepare for the all-important 4th Quarter.
Sales are shifting online
Clear retail winners emerged from this period of turmoil - those businesses with a strong digital presence.
One of the clear results of the pandemic has been an acceleration in the online shopping trend. The percentage of retail sales that are taking place online has never been higher - during the first month of lock-down in jumped to over 33% of all retail spending.
Small independent businesses with a strong digital presence were able to capitalise on both the customer's desire to shop from home, as well as their need to send gifts to loved ones who could not be visited in person.
The continued growth of Shopify, the website platform that powers many such small businesses, illustrates how many of them actually saw their sales grow to above levels seen during Christmas trading, as a result of this shift.
Selling online helps reduce risk
While physical stores remained closed, it was unclear how long lasting this shift to online selling would be. However the continued decline in footfall, even after shops were able to open up, suggests that the shift towards online is here to stay, in the short term at least.
For all retail businesses, whether they are bricks and mortar or not, now is the time to continue to invest and strengthen their digital presence.
Building an online presence will give them options - ways of reaching and communicating with their customers whether they are able to serve them in person or not.
An omni-channel approach has other benefits
As well as the obvious benefit of being able to trade while physical premises are closed, selling both online and offline, or omni-channel retailing, carries additional rewards.
Customers that shop with a business across more than one channel are typically the most loyal, engaged customers and spend on average 15% more than customers who shop on just one channel.
It makes sense, then, to encourage this behaviour by having a user-friendly website and effective digital presence.
Although none of us can predict what Christmas 2020 will bring, by focusing on their digital platforms, independent retailers and brands can be prepared for whatever lies ahead.
"continued" - Google News
September 03, 2020 at 03:47AM
https://ift.tt/3hZx20c
Think Digital - How The Independent Retail Sector Can Cope With Continued Uncertainty - Forbes
"continued" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2WiTaZN
https://ift.tt/2YquBwx
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Think Digital - How The Independent Retail Sector Can Cope With Continued Uncertainty - Forbes"
Post a Comment