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Understanding the Importance of the Phygital Experience in Retail, According to Brian Solis
Salesforce Global Innovation Specialist Brian Solis was interviewed by the Peruvian retail industry as he defined the importance of applying the new Phygital experience to the business on the basis of innovation, so that retailers can start to evolve and throw away the idea of trying to modernize the old experience.
What is the Phygital experience?
Phygital refers to the ability of companies to improve the customer experience, but put aside the forms they are used to before, the idea is to connect the strengths of physical channels with the most innovative strengths of digital channels and create a completely different form of marketing .
However, Brian Solis doesn’t like to use the word Phygital because he thinks it’s physical first, then digital, which is why he personally decided to call the experience “Diphy” as he insists that digital is what it will allow in the company Transformation or evolution in the physical environment.
For Brian Solis, the Phygital experience is a manifestation of the challenges facing retail as retail executives try to digitize the retail experience rather than make it physical.
The innovation expert noted that retailers should think about how digitization has transformed consumers and how they can reimagine stores for the new world, that is, with corporate innovation as a fundamental pillar, both physical and digital.
Solis said that as the pandemic hit, big business started to create things they wouldn’t have imagined in 5 or 10 years, showing that the world’s digital transformation is accelerating.
Important decisions are being made today to improve the consumer shopping experience. In fact, Solis revealed that a study conducted by Salesforce showed that customers want the company to grow.
90% of consumers say they want businesses to accelerate their digital initiatives to digitize things that were only possible with humans and unlock new opportunities through innovation. For example, creating new types of products or services “rather than trying to digitize old or past experiences”.
What factors should retailers consider to provide the best Phygital experience?
Now is the time for companies to start investing and idealizing the future of the company, as well as forging alliances with other companies with different technologies.
Notably, 85% of those surveyed in the Salesforce study said the experience was as important as the product or service. In this sense, retailers must see this as an opportunity to offer consumers a better experience.
Innovation must strike a balance between physical and digital. The goal is to create and enhance technology ideas within brick-and-mortar stores that differentiate the shopping experience and engage customers.
How to create a different experience?
Brian Solis commented that retailers need to focus on understanding how people interact. This is achieved by analyzing customer data and information to understand how they relate to the Internet and the physical world.
“Retailers have to think about a model that focuses on fully relevant information and creates an interesting hybrid experience, that is, not just visiting our store or visiting our website,” Solis points out.
“I want to inspire executives to innovate and create new hybrid worlds,” he added.
The Phygital experience is about growing, learning, experiencing things that don’t exist, and showing clients something different to help change the current company culture.
Solis Tips for Retailers
Finally, Solis advises retailers: “Open up, see the consumer, and build a 360-degree company where you have the full consumer. Innovate, improve and grow, and look to the future”.
