As technology advances, it has become very easy for industries to function effectively without any limitations. It’s not just the business but also our lives that have changed. Everything now can be done digitally, where the people don’t have to leave their houses and can work according to their convenience. Brands are also putting up virtual stores, where the customers can experience products online and can purchase from home.
When markets go digital + physical= Phygital, it not only benefits customers but also businesses. It helps in fulfilling the brand’s needs where they can showcase their products in a smarter and buyer-specific environment. A phygital store where customers can do their shopping by choosing and trying the products on a virtual platform. The main goal is to combine physical stores and digital technology and transform various sectors of industries into a smarter and efficient environment.
12 Tips to make phygital service better
Following are some of the tips which can be used by businesses to enhance phygital customer experience:
Tip 1: Smooth interface
Businesses can make sure that when they are combining online shopping experience with a feel of buying in a brick-and-mortar shop and browsing products on a virtual platform, it should be seamless navigation in the phygital environment across product inventories, product range, AR-driven 360 degrees view of the product, etc.
Tip 2: Making online portals optimized for every device
Retail industries should make sure that when it comes to creating online portals, they are to be designed user-friendly so it becomes easy for customers to navigate themselves for self-service. They should make sure to make their website compatible on all hand-held devices including mobile phones to facilitate ease of buying.
Tip 3: Using a kiosk
Phygital marketers are placing kiosks in the mall, public places, or in places where a celebration of some popular festival is going on for a larger view by the customers. Here, the prospective customer can browse through the product range and can have the necessary details that will prompt them to buy it. Considering the present scenario, such kiosks have AR-led 3D images of products enhancing user experience to do buying.
Start using a combination of AI and facial recognition to give shoppers a different buying experience in the phygital world
This enables stores to give customers personalized offers and scaling up their phygital shopping experience to a different level.
Tip 4: Create an immersive experience
Brands should make sure that when their customers are about to buy any item, they should be able to feel the product virtually and access all its information which is exactly like feeling the product physically in a store.
Tip 5: Develop an emotional connection with customers
Retailers to have a wider customer base strive for gaining new customers besides retaining the existing customers. However, in this process, gaining new customers is rather expensive. It is, therefore, advisable to retain the existing customers. For these new technologies have come up like Big Data, to gather relevant information to understand the tastes and preference of the customers, their buying behavior, etc. Such analysis of data enables brands to communicate with them, and always strive to proactively improve their buying experience. Brands should know that when their customers are interested in a product and want information about it, its comparisons, a demo, or some kind of assistance.
Tip 6: Using social media to increase brand awareness
Social media is a very good source for small vendors to promote their businesses. They give new offers, get an opportunity to communicate with customers, get their feedback for continuous improvement of their offerings, and secure customer engagement and loyalty.
Tip 7: Create great content for customers
Besides attractive digital layouts, background music, phygital promotion should also have content that will motivate a supreme phygital shopping experience for the customer. Such content should be consistent and of high quality which will create inbound traffic of potential customers.
Tip 8: Live demo of the product
A live demo of the product has a profound impact on buying behavior of the customer. Although they lack the experience of physical touch in a brick-and-mortar shop, they get a fair idea of the essential features and performance of the product. This greatly enhances the phygital customer experience.
Tip 9: Using AR in product viewing
Many retailers use Augmented Reality driven 3D viewing of the product. It enables customers to have a 360-degree view and facilitates an enhanced phygital buying experience. This is one of the most effective tools of phygital v commerce which is being effectively leveraged by many well-known brands of white goods, food processing manufacturers.
Tip 10: Better visibility of the product
When showcasing the product via the live demo, care should be taken whether there is optimum illumination so that lighting should neither be too low nor too high. Viewing the product should not strain the eyes of the customer; rather they should feel comfortable during such presentation of a product.
For this, high-quality HD cameras should be used for capturing clear images and videos of the product. If the viewing experience is not good, it has all the inputs of killing buying desires in the customer.
Tip 11: Convenient payment option
Payment options should be convenient so that all types of customers can buy phygitally. If there are any limitations in payment options, then many potential customers will be left out. This is not good for the company as this will drastically reduce the customer base.
Tip 12: High-speed internet connection
While doing phygital business, businesses must take care of their internet connection. The speed should be very high so that data processing is fast. Besides, it will have low latency. As a result, the virtual live demos will be conducted seamlessly. Additionally, it will help customers to browse products, or during system-generated billing procedures.
Takeaways
There has been a growing realization that to survive the cut-throat competition and ensure continuity of operations. The only way for companies is to go beyond digital and physical selling. This leads to phygital marketing by leveraging AI and AR-led technological advancements for scaling up buying experiences to a new level and staying ahead of the competition.
Phygital is not just a blend of physical and digital but an altogether new concept in consumer buying. To make phygital marketing effective and to increase more inbound traffic, there are various ways towards engaging the customers and securing their brand loyalties. Which are broadly categorized under the 3-I’s of immediacy, interaction, and immersion.
