REIMAGINING PHYSICAL STORE IN DIGITAL WORLD

Today the consumer is empowered; they have access to real time information about the latest products & offers available, promotions, price comparisons and have an added influence of social media to impact their opinions. The digital world is growing rapidly. With the rapid advancements in digital technology, the lifestyle and buying patterns of urban population is changing. A study was conducted in Bengaluru in the year 2016 with 1000 millennials with the data size of 891 in which a questionnaire was filled by means of personal interaction with online customers in the age group of 18 to 30 years. The results showed that in the era of digital world, consumers still want to go to a physical store for buying fashion and lifestyle products, reasons being the ability to touch and feel the material physically, to try the garment for size and fit, colour clarity, to get a better understanding of the product and to purchase it instantly. In order to fulfill the demands of digital savvy population, there is a need to reimagine and redesign the physical store without interrupting consumer´s digital experience. One of the solutions is ‘Showrooming' which is adopted by the most popular ecommerce ventures like Myntra, Zivame, Urban ladder, Caratlane and others which allows consumers to check products in a physical store and order online. The proposed solution seeks to redesign the physical store to include a video wall controlled by shoppers through a futuristic, multi-action touch-interface to showcase the intricate details of products and also equipped with multiple touch screen displays which provide data on key looks, ‘Scan & Go' purchase mechanism and so on. Redesigning of physical stores may include covering every aspect of the business right from advertising to its architecture, construction, layout, lighting and fitting and retail design. It also helps engage with consumers to ultimately lead them to the point of buying the product. Forward looking retailers will reimagine the physical store by bringing e-commerce services, technology enabled features along with the advantages of in store shopping. This will revolutionize the shopping experience for the future.