What makes up a digital store?

MUMBAI, INDIA: Meet the new essentials: customer essentials, customer experience, and customer engagement.

Digital business will touch every step of the customer shopping journey, so it’s crucial that the digital store, a digital business asset, delivers three competencies, according to Gartner, Inc.

“The digital store is not just about futuristic digital technologies, but is the store of the past, present and the future,” said Miriam Burt, research vice president at Gartner. “This is because customers expect the quintessential elements of all three to co-exist in the digital store.

As explained further, the store must deliver the customer essentials – the basics. These translate into the age-old elements from the past which make up the essence of retailing such as, stock availability on the shelf, informed and readily available store associates, consistently good information on products, a hassle free checkout and an easy returns process.

“Well established technologies, such as electronic shelf labels and RFID used in the past in the back office for stock management, are now being used in innovative ways at the front end to enhance the customer experience,” said Burt. “Retailers need to evaluate how these ‘old’ technologies can be used in conjunction with newer applications of technologies such as NFC, augmented reality and smart machines for robust execution of the in-store basics.”