Marco De Carli hold a speech at Milano Marketing Festival inside the panel “Retailing and customer experience”. Through some examples from DINN! concepts he discussed how to approach a complex and fast changing scenario to deliver innovative omichannel retail concepts.
The “digital transformation” doesn’t have to be seen any more as a scaring challenge for the companies, but instead as an interesting opportunity booster, able to simplify the internal processes and create value for the customers into an omnichannel experience. In “Apoteca Natura” pharmacies we used phygital solutions to enable different customer experiences in self mode or guided by the staff, creating a distinctive value for the brand and for the costumers.
To create seamless experiences in retail we need to keep the focus on the companies goals and customer needs. The new technologies and devices are important but not as protagonists: they have to enable and support the experience, not an expensive toy to declare “we are ahead”. The e-branch concept for Piraeus Bank is a successful example where a massive IT integration didn’t scared at all the customer perception. Keep the goals in mind, look always at customers expectations, integrate with the correct touch the devices.
“Try fast and fail fast” is often a lousy strategy. A strategic approach and a tailor made Design Thinking methodology allow to find out new opportunities by changing completely the way to stay in the market. It takes courage, the same Sparkasse put to evolve its proposition with a new retail approach from a traditional banking scenario of the past. Vision, strategy and courage to avoid the dusty “same old way – the better way”.
It’s not easy to success new retail concepts able to be distinctive and performing in terms of ROI. An integrated approach able to keep on the same page very different steps and parts is fundamental to maintain coherence and get the results: a correct Design strategy is cohesive from top to bottom, creating a final result by mixing the company vision, the customer experience and even the employees in store. It’s the only way to develop innovation and reach the goals.
