Gift Focus - Jan/Feb 2018 (Issue 105)

Founded 15 years ago by Manchester-born technology expert Ian Tomlinson, Cybertill was created on the back of a napkin after Tomlinson realised that retailers needed more than just a till to house all of its information. Fast-forward more than a decade and the Knowsley-based company now employs more than 100 people and has more than 500 clients nationwide. Retail Store and its sister brand Charity Store offer a single cloud platform solution for retailers, storing information and processing EPoS, e-commerce, mail order, supply chain and head-office soft-ware. The cloud technology helps retailers to overcome the challenges presented by multi-channel selling (in store, online, mobile, click and collect etc) and to deliver a seamless customer experience. The Retail Store client base specialises in fashion, jewellery, home and for CharityStore, it’s the leading and biggest provider in third sector retail. For more information go to retailstore.co.uk Retailtainment at its best Virtual reality is at the forefront of incorporating a digital presence into brick and mortar stores. Concept catwalks and runways instore are popular amongst fashion retailers. Stores across China are taking virtual reality to the next level by introducing the concept of entering a store in Asia but being virtually transported into New York to browse and purchase items. Others are investing in the store’s ambience by introducing popular lifestyle activities such as quirky coffee stalls as seen by River Island or giving tech geeks lessons at Apple stores over YouTube tutorials. Across the pond, superstore Walmart is interacting with its customers and delivering on promotional events like meeting their favourite bull riders as a way of boosting targeted customer traffic. Using entertainment and lifestyle activities integrated with digital experiences, open creative spaces, coffee shop boutiques and even cinema-themed promotions are unmistakeably making the instore shopping experience more interesting, thrilling and enjoyable for the consumer. Is retailtainment the solution? Creating an individual audio and visual consumer experience is however more than just providing something different and fun. The psychology of creating the right ambient environment is meticulous. From the music, lighting and colour to smells, it’s one that has been invested and well-studied and has been recognised as an influencer in consumer behaviour and spending. Marketing ploys, sophisticated concepts and well thought-out strategies can work subtly, cleverly or even wildly, but the true significance of retailtainment is whether it can lead the way in pulling consumers away from online shopping and back into brick and mortar. Retailers who combine the elements of retail and entertainment together, are beginning to prove its intangibility as a method to entice consumers back. This may demonstrate retailtainment to be the powerful tool that promises to achieve customer retention in the future. The instore retail industry may have just found its solution to its ever-falling sales and restore the in-store magic by offering more than just a standard shopping experience. Breathing once again a sense of new life into the retail world that it has eagerly awaited. retailtainment: a new in-store approach beckons 192 giftfocus

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