Retail Chronicles February 2022 Edition

Retail

Chronicles

Monthly Newsletter | Volume 6 | Issue 13| February 2022

CONTENTS 03

DIGITAL MARKETING CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN RETAIL Digital Marketing Strategy is of utmost importance in today’s scenario and it has given brands many benefits but has also resulted in a few challenges that the companies now face daily.

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TOP DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS IN RETAIL INDUSTRY Today the world has become omnichannel and so has the Retail Industry. Hence it remains important for retailers to keep up with the rapid digitization and bring about new innovations

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DIGITAL MARKETING: TIPS AND TRICKS IN RETAIL When there is a constant increase in the growth rate of e-stores, cloud services, etc. To digitally market your product and services, the only thing you require is some awareness and creativity.

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TOOLS TO DRIVE DIGITAL MARKETING IN RETAIL BUSINESS States the use, importance and benefits of Digital Marketing in the Retail Industry with examples of top companies for driving their business and also gives insights of Tools and Tactics used.

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PODCASTS

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TRIVIA QUIZ

WRITERS Aayush Ghildiyal | Harsh Gupta | Akshita Kulshreshtha | Raghav Khandelwal |

JUNIOR DESIGN TEAM Abhishek Jain | Hrishikant Mane | Mansi Vora | Ruttwick Bowlekar | Yash Bhojwani | Yuti Talati |

SENIOR DESIGN TEAM Nilesh Agarwal | Prachi Sharma | Prashant Sihag | Shivani Kunkolienkar | Sneha Patel |

EDITOR Riya Shah

DIGITAL MARKETING CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN RETAIL

Retail Chronicles | Page 03

Aayush Ghildiyal - MBA RM

February 2022

Internet usage around the world is at an all-time high, people are spending a significant amount of time looking at things in the virtual world. The rapid proliferation of technology has resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of mobile phone and social media users and hence, Digital Marketing because this is where the target segment of most brands is. Technology has resulted in a paradigm shift in marketing, which has given brands the ability to interact directly with the consumers but has also resulted in a few challenges that the companies now face daily.

artificial intelligence, or buying goods in virtual reality. An astonishing statistic was discovered by RetailDive, that 87% of the buyers begin their search to buy products, online. This is one of the main reason why visibility in the digital space is essential for businesses of all sizes and why they should invest in a digital marketing strategy. Here are a few of the benefits attached to it:

• Helps to build lasting Customer Relationships

The retail landscape has undergone a major transformation over the past decade due to significant growth in internet sales and other technological innovations such as digital marketing, Retail Chronicles | Page 04

One of the biggest challenges for retailers, especially small businesses is retaining and re-engaging customers.

Especially in today’s time when new products and brands are being launched daily, giving the consumers a variety of options. Digital Marketing is an amazing tool to better target consumers and also the shopping experience doesn’t stop at checkout while shopping online.

February 2022

Marketing online allows brands to keep in touch with customers with purposeful communication such as Digital Testimonials and personalized thank you and follow-up email campaigns.

• Better understanding customer needs Identifying what the target customers need, is one of the primary requirements for businesses to convert leads to their customers. The use of digital tools such as Survey Monkey and Google Analytics helps businesses assess what their target customers are searching for and where their interests lie. Social Media is used to gather similar kinds of data and to make a pitch to customers, which is tailored keeping in mind the data collected.

• Affordability Digital Marketing makes it affordable for small businesses to market their products as opposed to Traditional Marketing practices which are capital intensive.

This also allows these businesses to compete competitively with big brands. Using a good SEO strategy and increasing foot traffic through organic searches and reviews are very cost-effective ways to improve visibility and market products.

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• Measurable ROI Tracking the ROI on marketing spending is a difficult task when it comes to Traditional Marketing but the Digital medium provides ways to measure the results and the returns, before going ahead with more investment in the same direction. Using Analytics for your Instagram and Facebook pages can help measure the engagement rates and how they have changed post a marketing campaign on these platforms.

February 2022

The pandemic has brought about a major technological advancement, in the ways a customer can shop and search for a product. It is all about making this process easier and more exciting for them. The expansion of the retail sector has made the Digital Marketing space more competitive and challenging. The challenges associated include:

Due to rapid globalisation, the competition in the retail sphere is fierce, and this results in cut-throat competition in the Digital Marketing world as well.

Brands need to be updated on the latest trends, which are literally changing on an hourly basis and, use them to enhance their presence.

Presence in all online platforms and developing content and ways for customers to discover their products organically. Businesses should be active and also augment their presence on each of these social platforms.

Constant improvement and innovation of the customer journey is the need of the hour. If a customer faces difficulty with any digital process related to shopping, they will never return back to the same brand, as they have a variety of options available.

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The market and the marketing techniques keep changing and evolving, and there are many challenges headed in the direction of marketers. The success of their Digital Marketing strategy depends on the kind of choices they make, regarding the techniques and the technology used. Nonetheless, having a digital presence and a Digital Marketing Strategy is of utmost importance in today’s scenario and with the Metaverse picking up pace, brands need to be prepared for another change marketing.

February 2022

TOP DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS IN RETAIL INDUSTRY

Akshita Kulshreshtha - MBA RM Retail Chronicles | Page 07

February 2022

In the year 2019, the Coronavirus, or Covid-19 as we call it came in as a red flag to the world economy. The world became a place of chaos for a few days as the virus created havoc. It became important for people to confine themselves to the four walls of their homes as the virus started spreading at a lightning speed.

However, at the same time, it felt like the Internet was invented just for the people of the world to stay connected in this situation. The worldwide web seemed to bring control to the chaos and gave us all the ‘new normal’ way to lead our lives.

Let us have a look at the few Digital Marketing trends that the Retail Industry across the globe has been following: 1. Personalization Probably the biggest innovation in the digital world came with the advent of Data Science. It helped the retailers gain several useful insights about what the customer prefers to buy. With this, came in personalization for the customers.

They started seeing targeted and relevant messages from retailers. The data collected becomes the base of digital marketing for the retailers.

Today the world has become omnichannel and so has the Retail Industry. Hence it remains important for retailers to keep up with the rapid digitization and bring about new innovations everyday to survive in the cut-throat competition that the omnichannel brings along.

Use a different phrase; this sounds a bit awkward.

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February 2022

Personalization for the customers came in the form of pop-ups, overlays and product recommendations.

These recommendations can easily be spotted on the E-Commerce websites, Social Media channels, Email notifications and many more channels.

2. According Customer Engagement When the data is gathered from the customers, and their preferences are taken note of, it comes naturally that Customer engagement follows suit.

Online behavioural data gets captured with the use of technologies like Machine learning. Retailers also import data from other marketing channels that help them know their customers well, and hence, increase customer engagement.

3. Mobile Optimization Customers do not carry laptops and PCs along with them anymore. All the eyes now seek their mobile screens. Using mobile phones has become convenient along with making purchase decisions over mobile phones. Therefore, it is important for retailers to make their applications and websites mobilefriendly.

Alongside optimizing the experience for mobile users, it is also important for retailers to make the mobile browsing experience so good, that the customer would want to come back to them.

Retail Chronicles | Page 09

Making your applications and browsers mobile-friendly is like decorating a shop.

The better the experience feels in the shop, the more are their chances to keep coming back.

In the year 2019, before Covid-19 hit, and the world was still offline, 41% of shoppers conducted more than half of their purchases on a mobile device, and 57% of the shoppers made at least 25% of their purchases on their mobile device.

Now, a large number of shoppers make 100% of their purchases on their phones.

It only makes sense that websites and applications be developed in a mobilefriendly way.

Retailers can make better-informed decisions and establish ways to connect and interact with their consumers – motivating them to become committed brand advocates – by using data-driven strategies that use a variety of channels.

As a result, more merchants are making use of cutting-edge technology to reach out to more customers, increase sales, increase conversion, and drive repeat purchases.

February 2022

DIGITAL MARKETING: TIPS AND TRICKS IN RETAIL

Harsh Gupta - MBA IB Retail Chronicles | Page 10

February 2022

In this VUCA world, if something and someone has to survive then it has to constantly upgrade itself.

When there is a constant increase in the growth rate of e-stores, cloud services, etc. then the biggest mistake a brick-and-mortar store can do is to dismiss its online presence. The online presence could be in form of anything like online selling, online marketing, and much more. The omnichannel presence can give an edge to the retail owners and they can compete with the sharks in the same business as well. They do not have to completely rely on word of mouth. They can increase their reach locally to worldwide by using the potential of the digital miracle. To digitally market your product and services, there could be so many ways and the only thing you require is some awareness and creativity. That is it and you can witness the miracles happening with you. Let’s discuss some of the tips and tricks related to digital marketing.

• Buy Online, Pick Up in Stores (BOPIS) Due to more online engagement, one thing a consumer is losing is patience. Sometimes it becomes difficult to see a one-minute advertisement on YouTube, so how can anyone expect patience from consumers standing on the billing counter. It is easy for consumers to spend even hours while purchasing stuff, but even one second feels like an hour to them on the billing counter.

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To solve this issue, one of the solutions is to buy online and pick up in stores physically. According to a survey from JDA Software, nearly 50% of the consumers had used this service and this is increasing.

• Integrated Sales Channels In this highly competitive world, the bargaining power of the consumers is increasing and thus one can get various services at a cheaper rate. Thus, now it is not difficult for a retail owner to work on a hybrid sales channel. Along with the BOPIS model, they can also work on online sales channels at least locally by expanding their local networks, operations planning, etc. This way, they don’t have to upgrade their inventory system and can also fulfil the consumer demand in a short period.

February 2022

• Employee Spotlight

• Social Media Marketing One of the crucial things for success is clear communication, which can be done on WhatsApp. A retail owner can get the data of the local consumers via the BOPIS model and other ways.

They can use this data for upselling, cross-selling, order placement payment, etc. via WhatsApp Marketing. The number of Email users may be less, however, WhatsApp is used by the majority of consumers. To enhance communication, retailers can also use Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

According to Facebook, 69% of the consumers feel that they feel more confident about the brand when they can contact them or text them. Thus, social media can give an edge to retailers via human touch.

• SEO Friendly Website and social media handle One of the crucial things for every business is to increase its visibility. There is a saying in Hindi “ Jo dikhega wo Bikega”. To increase digital visibility, the retailers can also focus on search engine optimization. The average click rate on the first result on a website is 28.5% and it goes on decreasing with a decrease in website rank.

According to Gartner's report, a retailer allocates nearly 11% and 8% of their total marketing budget to website and SEO respectively. Apart from that, it is essential to communicate the vision, available products, messaging, positioning, etc. effectively.

For this, the retailers must work on the content on social media. They can work on engaging posts, memes, videos, etc. to grab the consumer's attention and clear communication.

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According to a study, about 52% of the website visitors, click on the ‘’About” Tab of a website to know more about the company.

Consumers want to know the faces behind a brand. Thus, employee spotlight can be a powerful tactic. The retailers can give a piece of short information about their staff on their websites with their social media accounts. Apart from that, a personal touch will also be there.

• Local Inventory Advertisement According to a study by Kibo Software, nearly 80% of the consumers are least likely to visit a store if they don’t know about the inventory level in advance. To solve this issue the first required thing is to clear address and contact details of the retail shop. After this, the retailers can use Google Local Inventory Ads, where online consumers can easily identify the products available near to them. For example, if someone wants to buy a purse, then they can google “Purse near me” and a list of brick-and-mortar stores with available purses will pop up along with their address and distance.

• Conclusion The tips and tricks and applications of social media are endless for creative and wellinformed businessmen, which they can leverage to achieve success in their business.

So, this is high time for retailers and other businesses to invest their time and money on digital platforms especially when the world is about to enter an era of Metaverse.

February 2022

TOOLS TO DRIVE DIGITAL MARKETING IN RETAIL BUSINESS

Raghav Khandelwal - MBA RM Retail Chronicles | Page 13

February 2022

• Overview The top companies in the retail industry have shown the world how the power of digital marketing be can utilise to improve business performance & drive productivity. These retailers are now aware of building and working with a well-planned Digital Marketing strategy for the business. With the rise of online e-commerce & shopping, the need for digital marketing for a retail business is high.

This article will see and understand how to choose and use digital marketing tools as a Retailer effectively. Some of the notable examples of Digital Marketing applications in the industry have been mentioned.

• Using DM for Retail Industry: Importance & Benefits In this world of rapidly evolving technology, a retailer can’t afford to ignore digital marketing. To grow in every aspect, retailers having physical stores must consider selling their products through online channels & integrating with existing ones.

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Seeing the market size of the e-commerce industry & its growth potential, it is pretty clear that physical retailers must establish an online presence to take benefit from the booming market. Every year, thousands of retailers miss business opportunities globally due to the absence of an online presence. There are some key benefits of using digital marketing tools for a retailer, which are mentioned below: Enhanced user experience Taking advantage of new opportunities Building a better brand equity Staying ahead in the competition By using a combination of online & offline channels, a retailer can get into a better position to tap into new business opportunities, attracting & retaining their audience.

February 2022

• Notable examples of DM applications in Retail Now, let us see some of the top examples of companies utilising digital marketing tools for driving their businesses. This will help the retailers to use the key learnings from the examples in their companies.

The company has started using Facebook live streams to showcase their products, and they have seen tremendous growth with it.

Walmart Walmart, a multinational retail corporation having over 11,000 stores across 27 countries, has used a digital marketing strategy. First, they introduced the Self-serve Ads, which rivalled Amazon in both manual & automated campaigns. They have also used AI or Artificial Intelligence to computerise their Ad campaigns. They tailor their content on each social media handle, strengthening their online presence.

Uniqlo Uniqlo, a Japanese retailer offering leisure essentials for women, men and kids, is one of the fastest-growing clothing brands in Asia. One of the main factors for their success is their focus on leveraging technology & product development to convey their image of an innovative, allinclusive retailer. They utilised digital billboards for their HEATTECH line and asked users to click photos to uncover special discount codes. This reached more than 4 million people and attracted over 35,000 users.

TOPSHOP TOPSHOP, a U.K. based fashion retailer having more than 500 stores worldwide, has built a solid online presence through using virtual stores.

They utilise robust and well-planned digital marketing strategies. They have optimised their website for millennials by reducing the number of clicks, adding multiple filters, offering loyalty points, etc. Taking usergenerated content also adds to their strategy.

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February 2022

• Tools & Tactics Using Digital Signage This is one of the first steps towards having a digital presence. These can be used by replacing the existing banners & posters with digital screens. Also, companies can take a step ahead and use digital screens in place of traditional price cards. Using it, the retailers can update them more efficiently and more often.

Customer Awareness video These videos are nowadays being used by retailers globally. They have built-in motion sensors which respond when a customer is in proximity. These can inform customers about new lineups, discounts, welcome greetings, etc. These are also being integrated into shelves to notify customers about their picks.

Personalized Retail App The app can be a great tool to engage customers even though they are not physically present. Most of the apps provide information such as new product announcements, stock availability, new activities done by the brand, taking orders and many more. Additionally, customers can have personalized recommendations, coupons, etc., directly into their devices which can be used in future.

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Tracking movement in-store Some companies are tracking customer instore movements by using wireless signals & geo-fencing technology. This can tell a retailer about the number of visitors and the hot points of the store. Additionally, a heat map can be made to refine the retailer’s marketing strategy.

Digital Product Selector Last but not the least, product selectors can be used by retailers, which guide customers towards the right product as per their requirements. To narrow down the choices, customers can input their filters, such as the desired price range, product features, etc.

These tools are being used as an alternative to sales representatives, enhancing the overall customer experience.

• The road ahead The opportunities for retailers are enormous, and they chose to optimize their marketing strategy by adding digital marketing. However, retailers also face challenges in the implementation stage of the digital marketing strategy, which varies from industry to industry. Using the right set of digital marketing tools with the right audience, a retailer can drive his business effectively towards success and take advantage of the booming online world.

February 2022

PODCAST

TOP DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS IN RETAIL INDUSTRY

DIGITAL MARKETING CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN RETAIL

-AKSHITA KULSHRESHTRA

- AAYUSH GHILDIWAL

TOOLS TO DRIVE DIGITAL MARKETING RETAIL BUSINESS

DIGITAL MARKETING: TIPS AND TRICKS IN RETAIL

-RAGHAV KHANDELWAL

-HARSH GUPTA

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February 2022

TRIVIA

QUIZ

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February 2022

Q1. All of these are the ways to strengthen the online presence except? a) BOPIS b) Integrated Sales Channels c) Employee Spotlight d) Appealing store infrastructure

Q5. Which of the following technologies enhance the digital shopping experience for the customer? a) Machine Learning b) Artificial Intelligence c) Data Analysis d) All of the above

Q2. What is the BOPIS method? a) Purchase offline and pay online b) Purchase online and pick online c) Purchase online and pay online d) Purchase offline and deliver by retailer

Q6. What percentage of shoppers used a mobile phone to make half of their shopping in the pre-covid era? a) 25% b) 51% c) 57% d) 41%

Q3. What percentage of buyers start their product search online? a) 60% b) 77% c) 87% d) 52%

Q7. Optimization of a website for an ecommerce retailer involves measures such as: a) by reducing the number of clicks b) using multiple filters c) enhanced user interface d) All of these

Q4. Which of these is one of the benefits of Digital Marketing? a) Less prone to risks b) Affordability c) Long Life Span d) One-way Communication

Q8. The Self-Serve Ad platform was recently used by which of the following big retailers: a) Walmart b) Costco c) Home Depot d) Kroger

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February 2022

REFERENCES ·https://www.softwareadvice.com/resources/retail-digitalmarketing/ ·https://www.bigcommerce.com/articles/offline-toonline/promote-online-store/#10-marketing-tactics-topromote-your-online-store ·https://www.vendhq.com/blog/digital-marketing-retailers/ ·https://www.shopify.in/retail/retail-digital-marketing-ideas https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/in/Docu ments/CIP/in-cip-disruptions-in-retail-noexp.pdf https://devrix.com/tutorial/top-15-benefits-seo-business2022/ https://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketingstrategy/digital-strategy-development/10-reasons-fordigital-marketing-strategy/

/retaillabsimsr @Retail_Lab @Retail_Lab