The digital shop and the shopper journey

Much more than simply showcasing technology in the sales space, the digital shop aims to resolve a persistent antagonism between the vision of the brand itself and the experience its customers have within the store.

As IPSOS points out, “80% of brands believe they offer a premium customer experience, but only 8% of customers feel the same way”. This is a real challenge for the shopping experience, particularly in France, where physical stores are still preferred to e-commerce. As Sébastien Bloch explains in his interview on the future of connected retail, the digital shop must become a vector of experience and immersion for the consumer. Technology cannot be independent of a brand’s marketing strategy.

Digital shop and real-time commitment

While brands can and should capitalise on the drive-to-shop, it is particularly important to maintain a communication link with their customers. Before, during and after the in-store experience, the brand needs to nurture this exchange to maximise the chances of engagement. With new shopper trends, a brand is no longer just a logo or a style of clothing: the emotional dimension goes far beyond this, and choosing one brand over another can be a real ideological choice.

Real-time communication via customers’ smartphones allows the brand to be taken out of the realm of symbols, and a more in-depth exchange to take place between equals. The Wi-Fi network, a familiar technology, makes it possible to combine all the digital devices present in the digital shop to unify the digital strategy within the retail concept. What’s more, the aggregation of all the customer data collected via Wi-Fi will enable us to gradually move away from mass marketing and personalise the relationship, creating a different shopping experience.

Watch this video to see an example of proximity marketing: