How to remain relevant in the new phygital retail context

The corona crisis has made it clear that, despite exploding e-commerce, retailers cannot do without physical stores. Retail will be 'phygital' or will not be at all. How to remain relevant and distinctive in that context? Four retailers testify from practice.  Discover how during this RetailDetail Digital Only event, moderated by Gino Van Ossel.

Programme

• 10:00 – 10u05: Reception

• 10u05 – 10u40: Presentation Vincent Rousseau

• 10u40 – 11u15: Presentation Karel Demeester

• 11u15 – 11u25: break 

• 11u25 – 12u00: Presentation Sonia Pypaert (in Dutch)

• 12u00 – 12u35: Presentation Gert Van Gestel

Speakers
 

Gert Van Gestel - CEO - Connect+ Group 
Read the interview with Gert (in Dutch or French) here!

How about me: phygitally yours, in me-tail!

Customer experience, customer centricity, customer intimacy ... all terms to be found in articles about how we have to deal with our customers. If by now you are not aware that your customer is the driver of your business, your business is bound to fade away.

At the same time, many of those articles stated that retail, aka brick & mortar, was about to disappear and was to be replaced by etail as they were all convinced that online shopping was the new way to go. WRONG !

And this Covid 19-pandemia has proven the value of retail as the customer actually discovered what he missed with shops being closed. On the other hand, at the same time, it proved that e-tail is a must-have extension for retail to fulfill the customer needs. This is where physical meets digital and becomes phygital! It is clear that the combination of both offers more than just the sum of two elements. Your phygital ecosystem needs to embrace your customers and remove any obstacle during their shopping experience.

For this as a company you have to have your basics right, lean and optimal processess from order taking over order fullfilment to payment. And on top of that offer a super experience both on- and offline creating experience and content for your customer to indentify himself with your offering. And here will lay the biggest challenge for all of us, both physical and digital, as the pandemia also regenerated needs like proximity, empathy, social connection, shared values and so many more...

So after retail and e-tail in my opinion we reach now me-tail, where customers will challenge us with social aspects rather then economical ones, and how they feel about and can identify themselves with what companies will be offering them. Relevant content and experiences about products rather than technical specifications. And this is where our focus needs to be, a super experience answering the “how about me” question, including new sales channels like the social media to capture the customer needs in full!

Vincent Rousseau - CEO - Paprika
Read the interview with Vincent (in Dutch or French) here!

Journey from a traditional brick & mortar retailer to a customer-centric omnichannel destination

Plus size brand Paprika is weathering the corona storm perfectly: the retailer is agile and sees how different sales channels reinforce each other, online and offline. 
Now the company is getting ready to tackle a new market segment.

Sonia Pypaert - Founder & Managing Director - The Baby's Corner (in Dutch)
Read the interview with Sonia (in Dutch or French) here!

You can't use an old map to explore a new world

The baby's corner managed to implement a full online birth list tool just in time within their digital transformation process. As a result, they entered 2020 fully corona-proof. But it is the creativity that gave wings to the omnichannel strategy of the babies corner over the past year. Proof that innovation and creativity go hand in hand and that it is all about the people who give the organization a face.

Karel Demeester - Managing Partner & Co-Auther of 'Act Human' - Callebaut Collective
Read the interview with Karel (in Dutch or French) here!

Human Encounters of the Phygital Kind: how betting on human relationships provides guidance in the post-covid retail world

It will not be "business as usual" post-corona. After the lockdowns, people miss the human aspect more than ever. Building human relationships is the new marketing, marketers become "human activators". To remain relevant in the post-corona era, brands and retailers will have to focus more than ever on human relationships. This also requires a new look at the connection between the physical store and online.

Language

• Both presentation and slides will be in English, unless stated otherwise.
   

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