Announcement
3 ways department stores can excel in the new phygital era
According to Forbes, a recent study revealed that customers spend less time in-store but spend more money when they are there. They want to browse products before they go in so that when it’s time for them to make their purchase there is less guesswork involved which means retailers need both online AND offline strategies for success. Combining the physical and virtual world, phygital carries with it the promise of a unified and personalised user experience (UX).
Phygital gives customers what they want.
A recent Harvard Business Review article noted that “while e-commerce will continue to be an essential element of retail strategy, the future success of retailers will ultimately depend on creating a cohesive customer experience, both online and in stores.”
So, how can department stores truly embrace phygitalisation and win more customers?
Here’s 3 areas which will help department stores to not just survive but thrive:
1. Personalised Promotions
How does phygitalisation assist hyper-personalisation? An omnichannel POS like Enactor combines the digital footprint of the customer, allowing the browsing history, wish lists, and even open baskets to be viewable in the POS. The department store can then use this data to personalise offers on customers’ favourite items. Moreover, an offer on items on wish lists or open baskets will often push customers to spend more in store.
2. Omnichannel Sales
Customers expect to connect with a retailer through different channels but expect to receive the same experience across each channel. Department stores with a next-generation system can easily connect stores to digital and allow customers to buy/exchange/return from anywhere and anyhow they want.
3. Omnichannel OMS
Customers now use a mix of online and offline channels to shop and often prefer ordering online and picking up from the store. An omnichannel OMS like Enactor helps you showcase the stock at your local stores so your customers can order online and pick it up from any store nearby. This offers fast and convenient delivery and high order fulfilment, further enabling customers to order products that are currently out of stock either from another store or online. They can also get these items delivered to their doorsteps or to another store.
Why more department stores are going phygital with Enactor MACH architecture
Headless Architecture – launch in-store and online promotions quickly
Department stores can run and launch promotions instantaneously without impacting any other applications or back-end critical functions with the Headless Architecture Enactor offers. The headless architecture decouples the front-end and the back-end but integrates applications to help department stores innovate fast and change business processors quickly to adapt to customer and emerging market demands.
API-Driven Platform – enables seamless customer journeys
As APIs run the operational intermediation between platforms and systems, third-party system integrations such as inventory, ERP, CRM platforms, or partnership alliances that carry promotions, are ensured to be seamlessly orchestrated between the devices so that it is 100% frictionless to the end-user. Also, department stores can access rich product data from the web, and look for the available stocks in other stores and online as our front-end POS can run external API calls.
To remain competitive in the global market, we were seeking a reputable partner like Enactor who could bring the convenience of online shopping into our stores…
Enactor will not only offer a modern POS solution that allows us to sell through multiple channels but huge business benefits from having a unified platform that we can own and extend ourselves which wasn’t possible with our old POS – 
Cloud-Native – Cost effective and ease access
Because MACH technology moves with the Cloud Native SaaS architecture, the cost of converting to MACH can be significantly lower than the cost of on-premise implementation. If a fully augmented MACH system is being considered by a business, then the long-run benefits of MACH will eventually outweigh the outright costs associated with the conversion. This will benefit price-sensitive CFOs, who may be currently unaware of the potential cost savings.
Join the successful department stores who are embracing their phygital future
Get a head start on your phygital future with Enactor.
