TechBytes: Three Omnichannel Retail Insights from Hybris

Providing an omnichannel customer experience is one of the most rewarding and challenging efforts a retailer can undertake. I recently spoke with David Stover, global head of business-to-consumer omnichannel solution management for Hybris, about some of the benefits and difficulties operating in the omnichannel space presents retailers.



Store Enablement is Harder than it Looks

According to Stover, store enablement represents the “last foot” of retail.



“Store enablement comes down to executing in stores,” said Stover. “There are simple use cases that look good paper, but are hard to execute.”



For example, Stover said that buying goods online and picking up or returning them in the store sounds simple but is actually very complex. Retailers who usually have payroll and training as their biggest store expenses must allocate more money and time toward training store associates to perform unfamiliar tasks like picking totes.



“The skill set for one use case is extremely disruptive,” said Stover. “There is an EBITDA/margin impact plus training cost.”



In addition, retailers who want to allow in-store pickup and return of online purchases need to determine if they are willing to accept the expense of store-to-store transfers for small or inexpensive items, as well as develop a strategy to handle the much wider assortment of items that is typically available online than in stores.



“How do you handle a return to a store that doesn’t stock an item” asked Stover. “Do you resell it or ship it back to the distribution center?”



Smart Retailing for Smart Customers

Customers are smarter than ever before, thanks to constant connectivity. Stover said retailers must factor that existing knowledge into their omnichannel experiences.



“Customers are walking in your stores with more knowledge than the associates,” said Stover. “They know pricing and the availability of substitutes for the items they want.”



In addition, Stover said customers who are constantly online with tablets and smartphones expect an in-store experience as efficient and convenient as e-commerce. This includes the immediate availability of additional product information, as well as inventory and home delivery availability.



“Clienteling is a big trend in the last 12-18 months,” said Stover. “Customers want shopping in the store to be as easy as pointing and clicking on the Web.”



The Information Age

More data is available than ever before, and retailers can now utilize leading-edge technology such as in-memory processing to leverage highly personalized customer data in or near real-time.



“In an age of selfies and customers curating their own journey, ‘small data’ is important,” stated Stover. “What impression do you want to make at any time, on any device?”



Context is an important as content when it comes to targeting today’s customers. For example, an anonymous customer might be visiting a retailer’s e-commerce site from a competitor’s site, and an automatic rule could send a 20% discount to capture them.



“Real-time data analysis and reaction lets you immediately react to customers interacting with your brand,” said Stover. “The next best action could be discovery. It’s not always a sale.”



In-memory data processing lets retailers have promotions and offers “ready to fire” based on the context of the interaction. This type of instant contextual reaction requires duration intelligence. Overnight batch processing does not provide the real-time analytical capability needed.



“The next best action could actually lose money in the short term,” Stover said. “Maybe you lose money on a customer on Mothers’ Day to gain long-term value.”