Turn on, Tune in, or drop out

Turn on, Tune in, or drop out (Sorry Timothy*)

Welcome to polychannel retail

Here’s an idea, but don’t tell everyone because we thought of it first. If retailers are so worried about the impact of on line shopping on store traffic and turnover (and let’s face it, many aren’t and appear to be in denial) then they should be considering how their on line business can drive customers back into the stores, and give them a reason to be there when they get there.

Last year, we called this multi-channel retail, but this term has now been banned as just too small a word to embrace the way that customers shop. Multi-channel also can’t describe the complexity of social networks which are currently media not channels, although the brands are moving fast to monetise them.

Before they do, it’s time to tune into what customers really want. It’s amazing how much stuff gets pushed at consumers and how little their feedback is monitored and processed. Social media is a partnership of sorts and if you take control away from consumers, they will ignore you. I point this out because if retailers try to use on line channels to encourage their customers back into their stores, they will need to talk to them first!

While we appeared to have rejected the idea of retail as theatre as just a leap too far for retailers who still need to think in terms of sales per square foot (God knows, their rents are still entirely predicated on that model), we can rethink why on earth consumers would want to visit a store if they can get what they need on line.

Welcome to a new generation of creatives, event organisers, musicians and multimedia jugglers, who recognise that consumers are starting to interoperate across channels so seamlessly and rapidly that retailers have no choice but to tune in, monitor and react. The store will become the call to action for digital communications and it has to be worth when consumers come to visit.

I’ll return to the actual ideas that retailers can use to stimulate store traffic later. Or contact me now to discuss.

*Timothy Leary said in 1967, Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out

- Chris Field

Published May 2011