Apparel July 2019 Apparel July 2019 issue | Page 160

FEATURE
Evolving into an Experience
Consumers are no longer solely seeking product satisfaction but are looking forward to a
wholesome shopping experience. Janice Goveas explores this retail landscape.
In an age where products are at our fingertips and
we have bolted ahead in the e-commerce race,
what do we see when we look at traditional retail?
Will it die or evolve?
While online retail is struggling to survive basis
discounts amid new e-commerce policies,
offline retail has seen itself evolving into an
overall experience.
India has seen e-commerce increase multifold
and even though it is only around 2.1 per cent of
the overall retail market of $770 billion, projections
for the future are staggering with a potential
increase of online shoppers from 69 million to 215
million in the next four years. Even though India is
increasingly becoming digitally driven, bricks-and-
mortar stores are certainly not behind either.
As shopping for clothes moves towards e-tail,
retail chains are bringing in innovations, and
revamping stores to turn them into holistic
shopping experiences.
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MOTIVATIONS FOR CHANGE
Let us address the strengths e-tailers have as
compared to bricks-and-mortar stores. E-tailers
usually offer cash on delivery and quick returns.
Coupling that with a wide variety of stock keeping
units (SKUs) on their websites, e-tailers offer
customers convenience that bricks-and-mortar
stores don’t traditionally offer. However, of late,
physical retail stores have been innovating to
be able to give e-tailers a run for their money
by incorporating an inventory-linked model to
overcome an out-of-stock situation.
While e-tailing could be one of the major
motivations of change behind retailing
innovations, a change in the profile of the
shopper, too, is motivating them to innovate.
Customers are more conscious now and want to
be more engaged if they are to spend time in an
offline space. Some retailers are therefore taking
advantage of the relationship that the customers