Brands have understood the value of physical contact to connect and build loyalty with their audience.
Touching the fabric of a garment, using a smartphone before buying it, or simply meeting someone to go shopping. While the pandemic has turned our consumer priorities upside down and accelerated the digitisation of many sectors, it has also revalued real contact and real experiences.
Brands have realised the potential of the physical shop to activate the brand promise and generate a deeper bond with the customer. As a result, more and more digital-native brands are deciding to make a move away from in-person.
We saw it in March with the arrival of Amazon Go in London and we see it now with the arrival of Google in New York. But it’s not just the big brands that are making this journey. Startups such as Hawkers and Pompeii decided days ago to go for more direct contact with their public.
The crux of the matter is that these big brands have in mind something much more ambitious than a point of sale. These spaces plan to take technological innovation a step further, to host workshops and product presentations, to inspire users by letting them experiment with the brand… In short, to create a community with which to strengthen ties, share values and have memorable experiences around their brand.
You only have to walk into any bank branch to realise that experience is now at the heart of the business. And a simple, quick and intuitive exchange is no longer enough; it is taken for granted. Brands must now go further to differentiate themselves.
According to an Accenture study, nearly half of Gen Y and Z prefer brands that make them part of something bigger and help them engage with causes they believe in.
In any case, we cannot forget that the point of sale, however experiential it may be, is just one more point of contact and that we must work the brand holistically, being consistent and coherent with our brand promise in every moment we share with the consumer.