Digital has forever changed what we expect of brands and retailers, as consumer behaviour shifts in unprecedented ways.

The shift in this behaviour is partly owing to expectations raised by smartphones that allow us to act on any impulse: 62% of smartphone users are more likely to take immediate action to solve an unexpected problem or new task compared with non-smartphone users.

This has resulted in a fractured consumer journey where major moments of engagement have been largely replaced by hundreds of real-time, intent-driven micro-moments.

Is this a threat or an opportunity for fashion and retail brands? It depends on whether they adjust their marketing strategies and budgets accordingly. Here are some developments that are forcing retailers’ hands.

Mobile

Historically, the retail industry has dictated the terms of engagement – what, when, where and how.

“62% of smartphone users are more likely to take immediate action to solve an unexpected problem or new task”

Pia Stanchina, Google

Today, 76% of people in the UK own a mobile phone and they expect information and products available at their fingertips. Tech-enabled marketplaces, one-click checkouts and on-demand transportation have reinforced this consumer-first culture of convenience, control and choice.

What drives loyalty and repeat purchase in this new customer-dictated dynamic are personalised and engaging experiences – and mobile provides rich signals of consumer interest and intent.

Retailers, whether pure-play or multichannel, need to identify which moments during the path to purchase they want to ‘win’ and respond with the relevant advice, entertainment and inspiration or most convenient choices for commerce.

Personalisation

One of the key benefits physical shopping has over the digital world is the personal relationship sales staff can develop with customers. A good retail assistant will remember regular customers’ names and shopping preferences, providing a more personal experience every time they visit the store.

Online, we are often clunkily retargeted with the same old ads whether we’re interested or not, or have even made the purchase already. Siloed media buying is at the heart of interactions like these which, face to face, would be unthinkable.

“A good retail assistant will remember regular customers’ names and shopping preferences, providing a more personal experience every time they visit the store”

Pia Stanchina, Google

Thanks to programmatic marketing technology, however, brands are increasingly extending the personalised, sequential relationships they build with their customers to digital platforms.

Communications can be customised according to segments such as loyal return customers, first-time visitors, or people just looking for inspiration. Insights from big data allow brands to show the most relevant and coherent creative, messaging and content, instead of bombarding people with the same advert again and again.

A few years ago people would “go online” on their desktops or visit physical retail locations for research purchases. Today, consumers are constantly connected, logging in for bite-sized browsing and buying with one in four avoiding a store visit if information is not available online.

What retail brands need to understand is that mobile is a behaviour. So when they dismiss the growing volume of searches on or visits from mobile as “not converting”, they’re missing the point – and, increasingly, the sale.

  •  Pia Stanchina is industry manager for fashion and luxury retail at Google