When Should Your Departmental Store Adopt A Trend?
The retail landscape keeps changing and nowhere is this more evident than the department store. Department stores by their nature are places to find a wide variety of items and the challenge of carrying the right variety is joined by the need to stay on trend. A few of the possibilities that department stores are exploring in 2018 are:
- Experience-oriented “stores” that only order selections online
- BOPIS (buy online pick up in store)
- Curated subscription services
- Customer-controlled delivery and returns
- Augmented reality mirrors to try on virtual items
- Artificial intelligence that interacts and anticipates
- Voice-activated online purchasing
- Visual search that does not need specific words
- Leaner inventory with fast-moving selections
- Individualized marketing campaigns
But which trends should be adopted and which trends should be ignored? The better you know your customers and your business, the easier it will be to see which trends will fit. The amount of information you have and your ability to analyze that information determines how well you know both.
When Does The Departmental Store Trend Fit Your Customers?
The advantage of efficiently using your data is shown clearly in the area of customer relationship management. The more information you can collect about customer preferences and purchases, the better able you will be to adapt your inventory and presentation to your customer. ChainDrive’s superior CRM/Clienteling component is designed to equip you to do both. Only by knowing your customer base can you decide if a trend fits your customer, and the only way to know your customer base is to become familiar with the individuals who are in it.
When Does The Trend Fit Your Business?
Once you know what your customers are interested in, you know which trends could be perfect. Customer-controlled delivery and returns, for example, are simply a matter of adding options to your online shopping presence. Buying online and picking it up in the store is simplified when your processes are integrated. A sophisticated commissions engine can keep track of staff efforts and reward them appropriately. Inventory that is integrated across all channels doesn’t need to be duplicated in isolated locations so it does move faster and stays fresh in your customer’s view.
ChainDrive Departmental Store software gives you the ability to leave the chicken shoes behind and analyze trends to make sure they fit your goals.