Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 18

OMNICHANNEL RETAIL

61%
The percentage of
consumers who cite the
ability to view in-store
inventory online as
"important" or "critical".
Just 28% of Canadian
retailers provide this
transparency.

on the popular social media
site, and buys a similar coat.
These transactions all occur
before the two cars meet at
the movie theatre.
Think of this new retail
reality as the reversal of
flow in a pipeline. Go back
a century and stores already
offered mail order via cata- JIM DANAHY logues. Baby Boomers fondCustomerLAB ly recall picking something
out of the Eatons or Sears'
"If you can hit that tough, but simpler catalogue and waiting by the window for
metric, you will be miles ahead of those the truck to pull up in front of their house.
that are like, 'how do we get customer ser- Today, the Web replaces the physical catavice to like our mobile app,' which are the logue with thousands of virtual catalogues
types of omnichannel conversations I see at a consumer's fingertips. They get to
happening," says Joel. "Retailers want to choose the time of day and where they want
ensure that when people connect with their to receive this product; innovations such
brand it is symbiotic: whether in the palm of as Amazon's Drone delivery project show
their hand, on TV, in a flyer, in the physical that retailers are constantly thinking of new
store, or via word-of-mouth, there is some ways to get their products to customers and
connective tissue that makes them go, 'Yes! serve their needs. Initially the flow of goods
That is the brand experience I wanted.'"
was controlled by the manufacturers and
Take this example. A family is driving for a the retailers. Now, as the digitally powered
night out at the movies. The son, home from omnichannel evolves, that flow is reversed.
college, is in the back seat browsing the Can"It's not about how manufacturers and
adian site of a U.S. retailer on his smartphone. retailers sell stuff, but how the customer
He's shopping for a new winter coat. He finds finds and chooses a product and a retailer,
a time-limited offer that expires at midnight and then chooses how they want to receive
and orders the coat, not to his home, but to his those goods and services," Danahy exuniversity residence. Then he likes the prod- plains. "If we change that perspective, it
uct on Facebook. A few miles away, in an- affects the way you look at all aspects of
other car, his sister's boyfriend sees his like your operations."

"Whether you like it or not, customers are
going to shop when and where they choose,
by whatever means they choose, and receive
goods and services when and where it's
convenient for them. There is no such thing
as a single channel customer anymore."

18 |

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Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014

Publisher’s Desk
Retail Currents
Retail: At Issue
Understanding the Channels
Reversal of Flow
Omnichannel Retail—Everywhere All the Time
At Home Online
A Space to Grow
Blocking and Tackling With a Canadian Marketing Legend
Advertiser's Index
Retail Quick Tips
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - cover1
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - cover2
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 3
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - Publisher’s Desk
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 5
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 6
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 7
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - Retail Currents
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 9
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 10
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 11
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - Retail: At Issue
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 13
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - Understanding the Channels
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 15
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - Reversal of Flow
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 17
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 18
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 19
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 20
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 21
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - Omnichannel Retail—Everywhere All the Time
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 23
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 24
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 25
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 26
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - At Home Online
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 28
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 29
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 30
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 31
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - A Space to Grow
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 33
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 34
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 35
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - Blocking and Tackling With a Canadian Marketing Legend
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 37
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 38
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 39
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 40
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 41
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 42
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 43
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 44
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 45
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 46
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 47
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 48
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - Advertiser's Index
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - Retail Quick Tips
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - cover3
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - cover4
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - outsert1
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - outsert2
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 51
Canadian Retailer - Spring 2014 - 52
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