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21 terms in the Retail sector that every retailer should know before thinking about digital transformation.
Are you a retailer? Do you want to upgrade your business with new technology and innovations? If yes, this article is for you. Just take a few minutes to learn a few terms that are important while thinking about the digital transformation of your retail business.
One of the best methods to stay competitive in the industry is keeping up to date with new retail technology and innovations. Even if you are new to the retail business this information will help you to set a target for your growth path. Let’s discuss those 21 terms which are relevant for now and in the future too.
1. POS- Point Of Sale systems:
Let’s start with the basic requirement of every business. Point-of-sale systems usually work as cash registers. Current POS machines are super advanced to work as a complete package of marketing, sales, inventory management, billing, and eCommerce. You don’t need to search for a separate system for these all functions. Retail Pro is a POS software that can provide you with vast options for integration and unifying commerce. There are many kinds of reports that POS systems generate that can help you check the plus and minus of your marketing and sales.
2. Brick and Click:
Brick and click sometimes refer to as “click and mortar, or “clicks and bricks”. The new business statistics show a surprising increase in the number of people depending on eCommerce stores to purchase goods. These numbers are not going to decrease. If people are depending on eCommerce stores more then what is the need for brick-and-mortar stores? But the fact is it doesn’t affect the customer’s flow to physical stores. In brick-and-click business models, retailers can integrate their physical stores with eCommerce stores to generate more sales and streamline business operations more intelligently and smoothly.
3. Webrooming:
Webrooming is a shopper’s slang that is commonly used when searching for products online before purchasing from the physical store. People who want to touch and feel the product in person directly will use webrooming. It’s just in contrast to the term “showrooming” which is commonly used to search the products in-store before buying online
4.Big Box store:
Big box stores are those, which is a part of big retail chains, having a very big retail space with comparatively low prices. It offers a variety of merchandise to customers with amazing deals and prices. The term big box is given because of its physical appearance. These kinds of stores target a large sales volume which generates high profits.
5. Endless Aisle:
In the Endless Aisle business strategy, retailers enable the customers to browse and shop from the entire products of that retail business. Sometimes customers were looking for some products which are out of stock in the store, so the salesperson can recommend them to search for similar products from the store through the endless aisle. So without keeping a stock of the entire products in the store retailers can provide a tablet or touchscreen to browse and select the item from their catalog or eCommerce store or any of their third-party vendor sites. If the customers like something, they can purchase it from the store and the retailer will arrange it soon or will ship them. One of the best advantages of the endless aisle is customers will get a chance to access the entire inventory of the retailer even if it is not physically present in the store.
6. Green Retailing:
As the name indicates green retailing is related to environment-friendly retailing. It mainly focuses on reducing wastage that causes harm to the Earth. Green retailing reduces the cost in some areas and increases efficiency. It assures a unique reputation for the brand among customers. Applying eco-friendly changes to your business will cause some expense in the beginning but later it can provide you with a large profit.
7.Niche Retailing:
Niche retailing is a retailing practice in which the retail business is focused on a particular niche. That retailer will sell only those products and they will target a particular group of customers. One of the main advantages of niche marketing is the seller can implement the best-targeted business strategies as they know their customer’s preferences and requirements.
8. Omni channel Retailing:
Omni channel retailing is a new phase of retail business. It enables the customer to access all the channels and touchpoints of a business. In Omni channel retailing, the retailers make the presence of their store in all modes of shopping platforms like brick-and-mortar stores, e-commerce stores, digital kiosks, social media platforms, etc. Customers can get access to all these and they can purchase from any of these platforms by giving their preferred payment methods.
9. Relationship Retailing/ Customer Retention:
Retaining customers with a brand is important to generate brand integrity. Relationship retailing is a kind of business strategy in which retailers implement new techniques to build customer relationships. Loyalty programs, rewards, gift cards, etc. are examples of customer retention methods. Running special promotions and giving early sales access to loyal customers will make them happy and will stick them with the brand for the long term or lifetime.
10. Clienteling:
Clienteling is a kind of business model we used to experience in fashion boutiques, where the clients will get personal consideration. It uses client information efficiently to provide more personal customer support. By keeping all the relevant customer data in a CRM, the retailers send new updates based on customer preference and previous purchase history through WhatsApp, Instagram, mail, etc.
11. E-tailing:
E-tailing is Electronic retailing-which means selling inventory online. No matter what they sell and how big their business is, those selling on the internet will collectively know as e-tailers.
12. Phygital:
Phygital is a new term that buzzing among retailers now. The combined experience of physical and digital is termed phygital. The phygital stores provide a different shopping experience to the customers. Customers will get the benefits of both physical and online shopping in one place.
13.Anchor store:
Anchor stores are those big stores in malls or retail spaces which has already have a brand name among customers. Anchor tenants or key tenants are capable to bring footfall traffic to malls. So getting an anchor tenant as a neighbor is a great advantage in bringing sales to your store too.
14. Beacons:
Beacons are Bluetooth-enabled that can locate customers in-store and send notifications to Bluetooth-enabled devices like smartphones, based on promotions and previous interactions. Beacons are assets to physical stores to interact with the customers when they are near the store location. For example, when a customer is entering the store the beacon will detect it and send a welcome message or new offers as a notification to their mobiles. Which prompts the customers to purchase it.
15. Augmented Reality:
Augmented reality connects the world around you. It’s an integration of the physical world with the digital in real time. It’s an interactive method of presenting your inventories to customers. Virtual fitting rooms and mirrors are examples of augmented reality in retail. Retailers can use AR for launching new products, displaying product catalogs, promoting products, etc. The technology uses a combined operation of hardware elements and software.
16. Social commerce
The term social commerce is linked with social media platforms. In this business model customers can browse, shop, and purchase through social media platforms. Not all of these processes need to complete within these social media platforms. Maybe it is just a lead. The shopper may see the product on social media pages on Instagram or Facebook or any other social media platforms, and he or she purchased the item from the store by going directly. However social media has a role in deciding to purchase.
17. Planogram:
Planograms are schematic tools used to decide the store layout. The position of shelves, display units, product displays, checkout points, trial rooms, etc. should be fixed intelligently to make more sales and customer satisfaction. It’s a kind of visual merchandising plan. Planograms are more useful for big-box retailers and small grocery stores.
18.Big data:
As the name says it’s all about the massive quantity of data. Customer data is a collection of data that you can use to generate revenue. These data will include the customer’s previous purchase history. By using analytics and machine learning retailers can predict about next purchase and future trends. Big data allows retailers to understand the customers and suggest items based on customer preference.
19. Unify Commerce:
Unifying commerce is integrating your POS with inventory, e-commerce, CRM and inventory management, etc. to streamline retail operations. Customers will get an Omni channel shopping experience through this. Apart from this retailers will get customer data and early notification of overstock and out-of-stock products.
20. Cross merchandising:
Cross merchandising is sometimes called add-on sales, as it will generate add-on sales apart from other products. In this business strategy, different category products will display together to get attraction and combined purchases of all. Unrelated products are displayed together to generate extra revenue. Power banks displayed next to smartphones, sunglasses near clothes, formal shoes near office wears, etc. are examples of cross-merchandising.
21. Dropshipping
Drop shipping is a familiar business model for many. But still for those who just entered into the business will be a new term. Drop shipping is an order fulfillment method in which the sellers won’t keep stock of the product. Only the images or information will be used to sell the product. They will purchase the inventory from a third party when receives an order from customers. Unlike normal retailers drop shipping sellers won’t have warehouses or storage areas to stock the inventory. All they have will be an eCommerce website, or Instagram page, or a WhatsApp group.
These 21 retail terms will help retailers, to make changes to retail stores. Inditech Middle East provides specialty retail management solutions that help retailers to transform digitally. If you want to know more about this please feel free to contact us on
Phone: +971 4 3885756, Mobile: +971 55 2277528.
