Head in(to) the Cloud: How retailers can stand out in a crowded marketplace

Covid-19 has been devastating for industries reliant on offline interactions, especially retail. While many retailers were able to pivot quickly to some form of online presence to survive, we need to understand that consumers have all gotten used to an even more online way of working, living and playing today, thanks to the pandemic.

This trend is here to stay. Retailers of all stripes and sizes need to be agile to embrace the continued uncertainty in the world today not just to survive, but also to succeed in this new hybrid digital-physical reality.

From our work with local and international brands of all sizes, here are the top five tips we have for small businesses to thrive in the new normal:

Tip 1: More than meets the eye for an effective website

The competition online is entirely different as compared with securing a customer offline. In the online world, a customer can navigate as many shops, at any time, as they want, without the limitations of the shops' operating hours, location and visibility in the offline world.

You need to have a website that attracts customers, and design is not the only consideration. A website's loading speed, how timely it reflects actual stock changes, its ability to handle an influx of buyers at the same time during promotions, and its support for international buyers speaking different languages are equally important and expected by the average consumer today.

These "soft" technology touches are key for businesses to retain customers and encourage their revisits. Brands need to look under the hood to consider the infrastructure and solution support, and make full use of cloud computing technologies with the elasticity, scalability and availability they provide in a cost-effective manner for their website.

Tip 2: Drop the spray and pray, and start targeting customers meaningfully

Traditionally, advertising was done by using labels or search terms provided by advertisement platforms in a "spray and pray" approach. In the online-offline omnichannel environment we are in today, businesses should take better advantage of the direct access to many more shoppers online today, and leverage the valuable business insights provided to identify and serve customers better.

But insights don't appear automatically. They are generated by cloud computing technologies that examine online and offline customer preferences, and generate actionable outcomes for business owners to act on, like targeting customers more effectively.

When brands have a holistic overview of customer segments, purchasing behaviour and other insights, they can extract more value from advertising to seed products with and reach the right audience, via the right channel, with the right content. Tip 3: Ensure orders are fulfilled across multiple channels

Retailers who place their products on external retail channels such as affiliate marketers or marketplaces need to ensure that all orders and deliveries are managed properly across the board.

With an online store, orders may surge suddenly at a moment's notice and retailers may find it impossible to keep track of multiple demands from their own web store, popular shopping websites and physical shops, possibly resulting in confusion in shipping and delivery management.

It is important for retailers to have a single touchpoint on real-time updates such as the current sellable stock and inventory of promotional items to different platforms that is also updated regularly and automatically to manage an omnichannel play effectively.

Tip 4: Build customer loyalty

There are several tools that are crucial when it comes to increasing customer loyalty, and one of the most important ways to build affinity with customers is for a brand to interact with each audience group using the words and content they appreciate, rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach.

For example, an activewear brand that targets millennials may use certain keywords that resonate with a millennial audience, such as "breathable" to connote a comfortable, sweat-wicking fabric. But to appeal to a more cost-conscious audience, it may choose to focus on the quality of the material instead.

Cloud, too, can help with that. By observing and digesting words, colours and preferences by audiences not just for your brand, but also for millions of others, it can provide you with the right "face" to present to a particular subset of customers and start building relationships with them.

Tip 5: A seamless online-to-offline customer experience is needed

Going online may be the first step to gain more sales and leads, but in order to create long-lasting business value, online activities need to be integrated seamlessly with offline operations or in-store experiences to create meaningful interactions between shoppers and businesses.

We see this today in the omnichannel concept of buying online and picking up in-store, which is particularly prevalent locally, given the easy accessibility here. With the help of intelligent algorithms supported by cloud computing technologies, consumers can pick their preferred time slot with the recommended store location to collect their purchase, all without much input from your staff. This frees up their time to provide more value-added and appreciated support to customers.

To realise this ideal state, retailers need to harness omnichannel management solutions such as a single dashboard operation that can digitalise all goods movement from sales, inbound delivery, outbound delivery, stock transfer, cycle counts, and stock reconciliation supported by a smart inventory and logistics system.

By enhancing the online-to-offline customer experience, retailers can move beyond transactional interactions and actually build a relationship with customers much more effectively.