FEATURE
FEATURED MEMBER
Bridging Worlds: Ensuring Seamless Digital Integration for Optimal Customer Experience Meshaal Bin Omairh joined Abdullah Al Othaim Investment Co. in 2021 as Group CEO. His status as the first non-member of the eminent Al Othaim family to lead the company reflects his extensive 25-year experience of corporate governance, organizational development, and capital optimization. He has led multinational companies and worked with some of the largest companies operating in KSA including Rajhi Steel and Aljazierah Home Appliances.
W
ith one of the youngest populations in the world, Saudi Arabia’s retail consumers are seeking out and utilizing emerging technologies at an increasingly fast pace, and the seamless integration of the digital world into physical retail locations has been brought to the frontline. Beyond providing vibrant and exciting experiences for these digitally native shoppers, this integration can completely transform how customers approach and perceive brick-and-mortar businesses.
The Best of Both Virtual stores offer consumers a highly unique and engaging shopping experience: during which over 70% of consumers make a purchase. Seamless digital integration embraces the immersion of virtual shopping platforms whilst capitalizing on the unique practicality of physical stores. This trend has established itself as the prime focus for a number of forward-looking retail companies in Saudi Arabia. As highlighted by Meshaal Bin Omairh, Group CEO of Abdullah Al Othaim Investment Co., there is a growing importance of “evolving retail offerings to the ever-growing dynamism of the Kingdom’s digitally native youth”. The main challenge for retailers across the Middle East lies in relaying the interactivity and engagement of virtual spaces to physical locations. In fully digitally integrated stores, shoppers can benefit from innovative digital technologies whilst also enjoying the in-store guidance of a friendly salesperson. The cherry on the cake is that retailers stimulate more online engagement in locations where they have a physical presence, showing the symbiotic relationship between the online and physical worlds.
MESHAAL BIN OMAIRH
GROUP CEO ABDULLAH AL OTHAIM INVESTMENT CO.
Ensuring Seamless Digital Integration Across all customer offerings which integrate cuttingedge technologies, retail companies aim to ensure seamless online-offline experiences and to immerse customers completely. With that in said, Bin Omairh maintains that “digital integration should not substitute or overshadow human encounters”. The successful implementation of new technologies depends on the willingness of consumers to try them, and retailers must always consider how best to entice customers and encourage them to use these technologies. A clear solution is to strategically implement technologies which enrich human-led customer service, allowing employees to deliver unique and personal experiences. Their rollout must include clear instructions and video demonstrations, as well as full device compatibility. The future of retail depends on fully integrated onlineoffline experiences. Working towards this goal, retailers must be able to locate the micro-moments in which customers dip in and out of the digital world in order to provide the most engaging and immersive experience.
RETAIL PEOPLE . MAY - JUL 2022 .21
