Over the last couple of years, we have seen a huge surge in demand for immersive experiences, from gaming and virtual conferences to watching sporting events.
The shopping experience is no exception.
According to recent data from YouGov, nearly a third of Brits (31%) would consider shopping in a VR space, which presents a huge opportunity for brands to use these digital areas as an extension of offline campaigns, diversifying the ways in which they’re reaching and engaging with consumers. To truly stand out in this environment, brands will need to push the boundaries of immersive experiences - going beyond the ability to try on garments - and move into fully interactive encounters that make shopping more fun and convenient.
Merging on-and-off-line experience
The popularity of online shopping is not only here to stay but continues to be a strong driver for consumers. According to GlobalWebIndex, 76% of UK consumers are doing more online shopping compared with pre-pandemic times, with the Office for National Statistics recording that 45% of all non-grocery purchases are being made online. At Yahoo, we don’t see this trend going away anytime soon and, by 2025, we expect half of all clothing and footwear sales to be made via ecommerce.
New audiences have also emerged in the online space, with Yahoo research finding the over-65s now buying three times more, volume-wise, than pre-pandemic. Consumers' purchasing habits have fundamentally changed, and brands and retailers need to adapt their strategies to account for these new ways of shopping - blending their in-store and online environments to create an omnichannel approach.
While this online growth is significant, it’s also important to remember that for many consumers, in-store shopping is very much still a desirable and enjoyable experience. As a result, the typical shopping journey now involves both brick-and-mortar stores and digital interactions.
Brands can benefit from creating digital experiences in-store to engage customers at various touchpoints. This is particularly relevant when looking to appeal to a younger, Gen Z audience: 50% of 16–24-year-olds report to IBM and Yahoo that they are interested in retailers offering more immersive shopping experiences. These might include ways to increase the ease and efficiency of the overall shopper journey, such as virtual dressing rooms to speed up in-store visits, or an online shop assistant to provide recommendations.
As well as elevating these functional aspects, brands should also consider ways to use technologies to surprise and delight shoppers. Ad campaigns could be made more immersive and personalised by creating digital experiences in-store that encourage consumers to discover new products and connect with brands. For example, Yahoo’s partnership with Selfridges, Pokémon and Charli Cohen merged online with offline to bring real-life shopping into an AR environment. Garments available in the physical Selfridges store were also purchasable in Electric/City – an AR space Yahoo created - allowing consumers to experience digital fashion in a more engaging way without reducing the importance of in-store sales.
We know personalisation is important to consumers, especially after months of many shops being closed, so it’s important for marketers to ensure that any digital enhancements to the in-person experience needs to be additive and improve the overall shopping experience. Brands must make sure they are reimagining digital real-estate to capture and hold attention.
Data-first unlocks shopper insight
Data-driven retail strategies will also be crucial to delivering a high level of personalisation given that the loss of cookies will require brands to work much harder to nurture relationships with consumers. It has become more challenging, yet more important than ever, for advertisers and publishers to understand online audiences and effectively engage with them in meaningful ways. This means brands and businesses need to be able to build direct relationships with their consumers and leverage first-party data to engage with audiences online in a way that will resonate with them.
At Yahoo, our insights are data-led from a diverse pool of signals, which we use to shape customers’ campaigns on our platforms. The future of retail begins with data and engagement, and brands looking to win over consumers for their in-store activations should also examine which digital campaigns get the most traction. This data can help draw the most digitally conscious customers back to in-person stores by fine-tuning campaigns and activations to resonate well with them, incorporating AR and VR experiences especially.
What does this mean for brands?
As shoppers look to blend online and in-person habits to discover new products, research, purchase and connect with brands, the role of the brick-and-mortar store has evolved from transactional to inspirational, as the IBM study: Retail technology for the evolving consumer landscape puts it. The challenge for retailers and brands is to bring the best digital elements into their physical spaces and vice versa, creating valuable and cohesive customer experiences.
Retailers which have already invested heavily in digitising their physical stores are ahead, breathing new life into traditional shopping environments with modernised customer experiences.
Shoppers are now mandating convenient experiences - such as quick delivery times, free and easy returns and the ability to shop at every touchpoint - while also expecting engaging, entertaining and tangible interactions with brands. If these demands are not met, they are not hesitating to shop elsewhere.
But for brands which deliver on this elevated omnichannel experience, greater shopper buy-in and loyalty is theirs for the long-term.
Carina Moran is head of strategy for Yahoo UK
