By Jim Rulison, Guest Contributor
With the rise of digital retail, there has been a back and forth struggle between old and new ways of selling products. The latest trend in this tug-of-war is known as the Hybrid Retail Platform: an upgraded version of the traditional channels for e-commerce, where a retail platform merges the availability, flexibility and searchability of a far-reaching web-store with the effectiveness of traditional neighborhood stores.
The coordinated services offered by a hybrid retail store make it feasible for small business owners to create an online presence without the need for a large individual e-commerce platform. In other words, this gives customers more purchasing options. In the present digital world, individuals have more ways to buy their favorite and needed things compared to the past.
The Importance of Hybrid Retail Shops
Advances in technology have shifted customer preferences for how they shop online on a daily basis. Hybrid retail shops have allowed small businesses to cater to changing customer preferences without reinventing the entrepreneurial wheel. These hybrid retailers have effectively used the digital and physical benefits of retail shopping for the benefit of the modern customer.
Hybrid retail shops offer many unique benefits over a single digital or physical business approach. Beyond benefiting the customer, this approach allows small businesses to compete with bigger chains or in niche markets. Many business owners have found a hybrid shop to be a natural extension of an existing brick-and-mortar business needing a new digital facelift. Others have started new businesses with the hybrid retail model as a way to stand out from the competition in an affordable manner.
Emerging Trend of Hybrid Retail Stores
The hybrid-style shop gives grocers, retailers and service providers something to think about when modernizing their business model. If you are considering ways that you can increase the revenue and traffic into your shop, you might consider whether a hybrid retail approach can work for you in the future. Here are a few examples of other businesses that have effectively made this approach work in unique ways.
The Grocerant and the Grab 'N' Go
Food markets and grocers have become one of the main significant businesses to effectively identify and address the issues of occupied shoppers who need to buy food and groceries on the go. With physical perks like hot bars, espresso beverages and grab-and-go dinners, these businesses maintain an active physical location since food is difficult to sell digitally. Companies like Trader Joe's have commoditized the “Grab 'N' Go” model with an assortment of food options people can order online before picking it up in the store itself. Some businesses even retain customers by offering a social experience with additions like open-air seating for additional communal space.
Blue Apron
Blue Apron is one company that has been taking the hybrid retail approach to a new level while recolonizing the grocery supply industry at the same time. By delivering groceries straight to someone’s door, they have cut down the time people spend in the store itself. Beyond more convenience, this has led to a subscription-based model where customers return time and time again. This is a difficult model to adopt if you have an existing business built on a traditional business model, but the effects of the hybrid approach are easy to see:
- Hybrid retail offers more options and variety to existing customers.
- Customers can choose between different alternatives, even in a space like food retail.
- Healthier or better options are easier to promote. For example, hybrid grocery stores can downplay typical junk food choices. Pre-made foods or shop/hot bar things are offered at more moderate value focuses, and shoppers don't need to tip or pay a delivery expense.
Unique Customer Experiences
With the accessibility of customizable retail experiences now, clients have turned out to be progressively refined in their shopping preferences and expect businesses to meet increasing demands. Rather than sticking with the same approach, many shops have taken the time to grasp the trend of hybrid retail for the better. For independent ventures, it may appear to be difficult to offer the same products and services in a new, blended way, but this does not have to be impossible for the average small business.
The benefit of a hybrid retail approach is it allows you to set up the infrastructure necessary to have some long-term, loyal customers from the start. This means having a good web presence with an online retail capability without the need for expensive upgrades and additions. More importantly, it is easy to create a unique shopping experience for your customers from the very start. The hybrid retail approach alone is unique, so you are already starting off on the right foot.
To really take advantage of this approach, you need to offer a good digital and physical retail space. Think of your online web presence as an extension of the physical space. Your products should remain the same. Your service should be top notch on both fronts. If anything lacks or fails to meet customer expectations, you will likely experience discontent customers from the very start.
The Bottom Line
Moving from a pure physical or online sales environment to a hybrid one can seem difficult at first when you do not know how or where to start. The key is to review what you want to achieve with the hybrid approach in the first place and how your existing business may fit into this new model. If you are starting from scratch, envision the perfect business that embodies the best of the traditional and digital.
The next step is to make theory into a reality. Identify where your business needs to expand and grow in order to develop a true hybrid retail shop. A great way to do this is to monitor past sales performance and financial numbers. If you see any place that has been lagging or needs some additional attention, these are good places to start. Ultimately, guide your business’s development towards a solid hybrid retail platform.
Jim Rulison
Jim Rulison serves as the CEO for Media Loop LLC (formerly the National Center for Pain Inc). Jim oversees the day to day operations for all lead generation accounts, with concentration in the health care industry. Before joining Media Loop, Jim was the CEO of PME Home Health and was the founder of one of the nation's first virtual call centers. He lives in Rochester, New York area where he and his late wife raised their two children. Jim spends his free time with his family and enjoying cooking and his two dogs.
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