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~ We Are Pentagon ~

However, over the past two decades, a new type of customer seek a connection that is rooted in their local community.
experience is exactly what e-commerce has been able to New digital technologies such as virtual reality, augmented
deliver, and at a pace far faster than any store can possibly reality and automation are already shaping how an in-store
implement or recreate. No commute, no queues and no experience can be integrated with online and, in turn, tie
time spent rummaging around for products on shop floors together the local and the global scales entwined within
– online seemed to solve everything for shoppers in just modern retail. There are already plenty of brands and
a few clicks and from the comfort of their own home. retailers trialling more immersive experiences, including
Online giants such as Amazon and eBay were well-known Burberry’s ‘social retail’ store in China, which is the first
trailblazers in the growth of online marketplaces, but, today, boutique of its kind to blend the real world with social
we are increasingly seeing more marketplace players setting media. As another example, John Lewis’ virtual personal
out to make their mark on the retail landscape. These shopping pilot brings the in-store experience to the comfort
include the likes of Fruugo, Catch, OnBuy and Sprii. When of the shopper’s home.
you consider that sales from marketplaces are predicted to
exceed $7 trillion by 2024, it is not hard to see why. Ultimately, making the digital part of the lived customer
experience not only makes the brand/retailer proposition
The Covid-19 pandemic has undoubtedly highlighted a more valuable, but it is also set to serve customers better
clear contrast between winners and losers when it comes too. What if your online shopping habits and preferences
to total revenue, with a strong positive correlation between could be identified within the store? That is exactly what
sales growth and online presence. The repeated headlines of some retail analysts predict to be part of the future in-
major retailers reporting online sales growth are a testament store experience. With 5G population coverage expected to
to the businesses that were quick to embrace an online reach 45% by 2024, there will be enormous opportunities
strategy or that were already on the path to implementing for physical stores to personalise the shopping experience
one pre-pandemic. This is echoed in the views of prominent using real-time data. Using the data recorded from shoppers’
C-level executives, including Mango CEO, Toni Ruiz, who online shopping habits, 5G is set to transform the physical
attributed the retail giant’s sales recovery post-lockdown store experience and accelerate the personalisation of
to, “the wisdom of our commitment in recent years to products and offers like never before. In addition, the
accelerate e-commerce and omnichannel initiatives.” innovation and creativity that technology can provide
While the data overwhelmingly indicated that e-commerce for businesses enables retailers to surprise and delight –
would surge in this decade, even the most expert of retail enhancing customer engagement with brands and opening
analysts could not have predicted quite the way 2020 would scope for gamification elements within stores, making the
accelerate this trend. future in-store retail experience more memorable and fun.

Staying at home has become the epicentre of how people When considering the high street today, it’s perhaps fair
operate during the Covid-19 pandemic, a shift significantly to say that on balance, the traditional retail model’s days
aided under government order and instruction to ‘lockdown’ are numbered. Instead, physical retailers need to look
– be it nationally or regionally. So, where does this leave beyond their four walls to open new digital dimensions
our high streets? In an interview earlier this year, retail that entice and excite their customers. The pace of change
consultant Mary Portas predicted that “physical retail we are currently seeing across the e-commerce landscape is
will lessen… But interestingly, we’ll probably get better indicative of the speed at which senior executives need to
physical retail.” Indeed, the idea that a physical retailer embrace a multichannel approach to selling. Rather than
will survive without also having digital offerings seems viewing the decline of in-store sales as yet more hammering
improbable. Even products that seemed unlikely to ever damage to the high street, we should instead be reframing
be out for delivery have been, as a result of accelerated the problem as an opportunity for the brick-and-mortar
shifts to online, with notable examples such as Unilever’s model to be transformed and made sustainable for many
Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream actually recouping losses in other more years to come. If you are a brand or retailer looking to
areas of the business. Unilever CEO, Alan Jope, said at the enhance and expand your online presence globally, Pentagon
time, “One of the things we’re observing is e-everything” – is here to help as a market-leading e-commerce integrator.
demonstrating how new digital advancements are making Get in touch at [email protected] to receive a free
the previously impossible, possible. 1:1 consultation that is tailored to your business needs.
To find out more about what we do, you can also head to
Perhaps then, we have been stuck in the echo-chamber of our website at www.wearepentagon.com and follow us on
the ‘physical vs digital’ debate without considering that LinkedIn at We Are Pentagon. ••
digital technology could, in fact, provide the solution for
our high streets. Covid-19 has undeniably brought the local
vs global dichotomy to the forefront, where consumers
want access to global marketplaces but simultaneously

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