With the advancement of online retailing, there has been a to and fro battle among old and new approaches to selling products online. While Online Retail is developing fast, this doesn’t signify the end of physical stores. Physical retail stores may simply run alongside the online shopping stores. The most recent pattern in this back and forth is known as the hybrid retail model which is an updated variant of the traditional e-commerce that is used to portray the cooperation of both online business and bricks & mortar stores.
Retailers have realized the importance of online business as well as brick and mortar shops because those customers who won’t get time to visit stores may purchase online and customers who are worried about touch and feel may purchase the products from brick and mortar. So retailers integrate both the channels to attract more customers and end up implementing the hybrid retail model. This helps the business to experience the best of both worlds. This approach has consumer needs and demand at heart. With the help of a hybrid retail model, a retailer need not give up on his physical store in favor of online presence. Hybrid retailers have effectively utilized digital advancement to deliver flawless shopping experience to customers.
Digital development has increased buyer expectations. Now, customers want to know how effective and natural each brand is at every touch-point. A retail brand can have a physical store along with an ecommerce store yet how these two work together introduces an entirely different domain of learning.
To lead among competitors, and to deliver an ideal shopping experience retailers adopt the hybrid retail model which is a new key structure focusing on creating value and innovation on the bridges between online and offline.
For example, if you browse a complex product and you do not know how to use it and you need expert advice for that particular product then in this scenario some retail brands diminish the gaps by giving a piece of information in a nearby store which leads buyers to walk into the offline stores. This shopping experience will boost a customer's trust in the brand and they will not think twice before purchasing the product as expert information is readily available. Movement of customers from online to offline stores and vice-versa increases customer loyalty.
Features of the Hybrid Retail System include:
- Click and gather services for eager customers who compare the prices, fill their shopping carts and research on the web but eventually go in-store to get the product. Things purchased online ought to be permitted to be returned in any offline stores and vice versa.
- Chat boxes that can be utilized in an online selling site to talk to customers about their needs and any related query just like the way they are interacting with an executive in an offline store.
- Rewards that are not specific to one platform. A customer can withdraw rewards on any store either online or offline.
To stay in the game, retailers need a break from the traditional selling pattern. The hybrid retailing model tends to give unique shopping experience which helps to pull maximum customers and increases customer loyalty and trust for a specific brand.
For better and smooth customer experience, retailers must innovate their brick and mortar stores and online stores with the hybrid retail model. The hybrid retail model offers customers more ways to buy their favorite products with lots of purchasing options.
