Prediction 7: You need to E-tail Your Retail

If I can do it on your web site, I should be able to do it in your store.

It's time to e-tail your retail. And we don't mean moving all of your retail operations online. But it does mean that your retail needs to be e-tail compatable.

Think about it. I'm on your web site, looking at something cool and I think Hey, I should show this to my wife, and I can click on the Share with a Friend link. Off it goes and now my wife & I can both look at the same item. But in your store? No chance for that to happen. I can't share any of the in-store experience with someone not there.

Online, I can get product reviews from both experts and consumers. In-store, I can barely find out where the product is. Online, I can search by any number of terms and read all about the product. In-store, I might be able to check the price on the price-check scanner, but I can't get any other information about the product. This is one place where mobile technologies could really deliver a much better in-store experience. So, stop simply making incremental changes to your retail experience and start looking at ways you can e-tail your retail!

So in 2007, you need to take a look at your in-store experience and your online experience and see what you can do to make them more similar.

Comments

[Paula Thornton]

It's all about exposing the story (or the metadata). Galleries and Museums were always horrible experiences for me because I had too many questions and no one to answer them.

So it appears that the real answer is: follow the questions...