Retail Convergence

Retail Convergence - A Changing Landscape

There is a large movement in retail toward what is now being called Convergence. Convergence is the blending of channels into a single concept that leverages components from all consumer touch-points into a single set of processes and procedures that act the same, regardless of the consumer touch-point. 

While one could argue that this is simply Omni-channel, this would not extend the vision far enough. Convergence is not just about the unification of channels, it is about the unification of activities and interactions across all touch-points, including what have been perceived as channels in the past, but are becoming increasingly difficult to link to a specific system or business unit. An example of this convergence is the use of mobile devices while in a retail store, either through third-party solutions such as a Google search, or through mobile applications residing on the consumer phone itself.

Convergence comes in the form of data, commerce, and interaction. Data being a natural progression of the movement toward a single version of the truth for unified data, with commerce coming in the form of the endless aisle and DOM capabilities, while interaction imbues the benefits of engagement and messaging across all touch-points in a centralized process and vision.

As a recent Forrester article pointed out, a majority of sales today happen in the world of a blended on-line and in-store interactions. Sales begin on-line through eCommerce or social engagement, move to the store, and sometimes back to eCommerce again before a purchase is made. While Omni-Commerce is a portion of this customer lifecycle, not all interactions with a brand come in the form of purchases, or even as a lead-up to a purchase. Interactions may be related to brand awareness, service or follow-up, ratings or comments on-line, recommendations to friends, and a host of other aspects of a customer journey that are largely out of the control of the retailer or brand. 

Convergence is an attempt to unify processes and procedures, as well as technologies to combine all channels into a single concept rather than a recognition that channels even exist. It is to Omni-Channel what Omni-Channel was to Cross-Channel.  The movement form Cross-Channel to Omni-Channel was to break down the walls barriers of the channels, so they could function in tandem, whereas Convergence is the breaking down of the silos of channels themselves.

How will this impact retail and retail technology?  It will impact overall retail in a very dramatic fashion, in that the lines between channels will no longer exist. Commerce online and in the store will be seamless, with orders being placed on mobile devices while in a store, and baskets being shared between customers and associates to build the perfect outfit. Marketing will provide a queue of consumer messaging which can be delivered by any touch-point, and when performed can trigger the next communication, which is also oblivious and uncaring as to the next customer touch-point.

Influencing the customer journey will become the primary goal of a retailer, and providing tools to assist retailers in influencing the journey will become the principal purpose of retail technology companies. 

The next few years will fundamentally change how system and process are managed in retail, and for those not progressive in their thinking, there is a serious risk to success on the horizon.