Design a total concept that integrates online and offline retailing for Pets Place

Abstract

Pets Place is the largest pet retail chain in the Netherlands. It is a franchor with about 170 stores in the Netherlands. Apart from the physical stores, Pets Place also has a website containing a webhop, the online store. More and more products are bought online at the expense of the physical retailers. The internet can be seen as a threat, but when applied in the physical retail environment, this threat can become an opportunity. Pets Place is already planning to introduce a webkiosk in their stores in the near future, containing the website including the webshop and this way disclosing the complete assortment to the customer. This is a first step towards creating an omni-channel strategy but in order to succeed it will have to become one integrated concept. For this concept to be a success, the customer of Pets Place was to be mapped. Research in the Pets Place store showed that there is not one specific customer of Pets Place. Four personas containing the main characteristics of the customers interviewed in the research were set up to create people to design for. The research also showed that convenience is one of the main reasons why customers come to the store. It also showed that experienced staff in the store is required, as customers ask for advice in the stores. Quality products for a good price is what customers want as well. Customers would be more loyal to a pet store if a loyalty program would be available. To improve the online experience of the customer, big data should be used to make its usage more personal. Taking in mind the objectives of the three different parties involved in this project, |1| Pets Place as a company, |2| the retailer (franchisor) and |3| the customer, four focus points were generated. Those focus points are: • Advice • Products & information • Sales • Loyalty system Convenience is a big motivator for the customers to come to Pets Place. In order to be open at any time and at any place, the decision was made to introduce a smartphone application. The smartphone app, the tablet app (on the webkiosk) in the store and the website will together form the design in which the customer can move from one device to another with ease. Advice – is mostly looked for on Google or in the store. The retailer is already in the store to give the advice, which leaves the website as the best place to show the advice. Products & information – products and information is the main focus of the tablet, showing the complete assortment to the customers. Also on the smartphone app and on the website Products and information is important, though not as a central part as in the tablet app. Sales – the research showed that the customers look for sales before they come to the store, which makes the app and the website the perfect place to show relevant sales to the customer. Loyalty system – the loyalty system links all three elements and is present in every part of the system. Information about the shopping habits of the customers is shared with Pets Place, who can in return offer a personalised shopping experience. The smartphone application is like a personal assistant, containing all the personal information from its user and using it to give for example personalised advertisements or product information. The tablet in the store should function like a showroom, drawing attention to the products of Pets Place and providing more information when asked for. The website is the place where all the focus points come together, Advice, products & information, sales and the loyalty system. In a user test the navigation through the apps of the smartphone and the tablet was tested. The smartphone app was clear to the users, although an instruction video after first opening the app would help discovering all the different functionalities of the app. The tablet in the store had to be clear at one glance because customers will probably not use the tablet frequently. The navigation was clear, but more feedback about being logged in was required. The designed system and its elements, form the start of an integrated omni-channel retail experience of Pets Place.