We live in a customer-centric world where ensuring instant gratification of customer needs can determine the success or failure of a business. Building an innovative and winning Customer Experience (CX) strategy is crucial in differentiating one brand from another. Everybody wants to create that secret sauce that helps them stand out in the crowd and capture the attention and hearts of customers. Brands that successfully crack the innovation code can command customer loyalty, accelerate sales and build a path to long-term profitability.

The retail industry is very competitive, where innovation is intricately linked with customer acquisition and retention. Valued at USD 670-690 Bn in 2021, retail is the largest industry in India, surpassing even Oil and Gas. Yet, over several decades, top retailers like Aditya Birla Retail, Raymond, and Health & Glow, among others, continue to stay relevant to their customers through innovative CX strategies. These brands have survived over decades because they understand that they aren’t in the business of selling products alone but are selling ideas and experiences. This deeply embedded personalized appeal continually drives sales and customer loyalty.

Experiential Commerce is here to stay. But before we go any further, let’s look at what got us to this point. Since the beginning of retail – Experiential Commerce has played a vital part in moving the industry forward. In India, the big retail revolution came in the 1990s, establishing large department stores that met all shopper needs under one roof. These were the coolest places to shop at the time. Then came the likes of Shoppers Stop and Lifestyle, which shook up the Indian fashion retail scene, providing customers with richer and more exclusive shopping experiences. Thirty years later, these brands are still reaping the benefits of their differentiating customer experience strategies.

In the mid- 2000s, the competition got hotter, and the industry began to boom. Experience Commerce got a massive facelift with more sophisticated shop floors offering a range of specialized categories like eyewear, jewelry, fashion, electronics, grocery, and others. The choice of brands available on the floor multiplied, and shoppers were encouraged to touch, feel and experience products.

Then came the tech revolution, and eCommerce began to bloom, ushering in a new era of Experience Commerce. From around 2013 onwards, eCommerce picked up rapidly, and retailers began to focus on creating better online shopping experiences for desktop and mobile users. Product discovery, nudges, hyper-personalization, smart discounts, and convenient and safe shopping experiences all became integral to the buying experience.

Soon the industry amalgamated into a hybrid format, where physical retailers offered online and offline shopping options, and major eCommerce players offered “try-and-buy” tactics to compensate for the physical experience they did not provide.

Today, Experiential eCommerce has leveraged technological advancements to reach a stage of maturity. Retailers offer a cocktail of physical and digital retail, providing an immersive, intuitive, and interactive customer experience like never before.

Let’s get a bit more specific with these six examples of innovation that are redefining Experiential eCommerce:

• Augmented Reality (AR)
  In retail, AR offers shoppers a new and exciting digital experience and brands an innovative way to enrich customer relationships. Online or offline shoppers can use AR from home PCs, mobile devices, or kiosks in stores. Brands from Asian Paints to Ikea are using AR to help customers visualize the products they are viewing in their homes or on themselves. Some brands even offer AR-enabled virtual tours, combining traditional and eCommerce experiences. The integration of AR into CX offers retailers higher conversion, empowered marketing and advertising, and enhanced brand recognition.
• Metaverse / Digital Twin Store
  Although the concept is not widespread yet, the metaverse is emerging as a game-changer. Enormous investments in a metaverse-driven future promise new and exciting changes to our world. Brands are experimenting with the digital twins of their stores, allowing online customers a more engaging experience. The metaverse offers immense potential for smaller retailers to showcase in-store innovation and add fun, entertainment, and novel experiences for their customers. The success of metaverse in retail will depend on how it evolves as a technology and how easy and beneficial it becomes to use.
• Virtual Reality (VR) and Immersive Retail:
  In the 1990s, when Sega and Nintendo first released their VR gaming headsets, it would have been impossible to imagine its application in retail. Yet just two decades later, we find that VR applications have expanded beyond gaming and entered physical and virtual stores, offering curated experiences, contactless trials, product customization, and digital journeys into the metaverse. Indeed, the sky’s the limit with what will continue to evolve in this space.
• Omnichannel 2.0:
  Capturing and delivering consistent experiences across all shopper channels is a crucial element in Experience eCommerce. During the pandemic, omnichannel personalization gained prominence among retailers hoping to offer contextual content and promotions to boost their sales. Omnichannel 2.0, in the context of Experiential eCommerce, goes beyond gimmicks to provide a unified personalization strategy at scale. It empowers brands with deeper insights into shopping cart activity. It allows more meaningful customer engagement across the purchase journey, targeted offers, and intelligent product recommendations that result in better order value. Omnichannel 2.0 produces and serves content that can be consumed across multiple platforms and devices, driving sales and customer delight.
• Social Commerce
  Social Commerce is another upcoming form of Experiential eCommerce. The digital revolution and subsequent popularity of social networking gave rise to influencer marketing. The stars of social media now exert significant influence over their Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat followers, setting fashion, C-tech, and other consumer trends. Brands have been quick to ride this wave of popularity to promote their products and services through sponsored content and product seeding. Since social media also provides AI / ML algorithms data to gather user insights, brands can offer more personalized product recommendations to improve product discovery and in-store shopping experience.
• Quick Commerce
  The success or failure of a company’s Experiential eCommerce strategy also relies on its supply chain network’s robustness and ability to deliver Quick Commerce. Customers want instant gratification once they experience a product or service virtually. Hence brands will need to ensure instant delivery, making inventory planning and warehousing key elements in Experiential Commerce. Quick Commerce is a crucial enabler for Experiential eCommerce as delays in delivery will dampen the customer experience and negatively impact brand trust and sales.

The writing on the wall is clear: brands will find it impossible to keep up with modern consumer behavior without experiential eCommerce. They will become mired in the complexity of the marketplace and in fear of a fast-eroding market share. Companies that adopt a CX strategy driven by innovation can achieve higher conversions, better brand recollection, and customer satisfaction levels.

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