As we can see today, science and technology have not shown any signs of slowing down. With so many latest technological advancements being invented and/or discovered, we barely have time to breathe, and there is already something else waiting for us on the horizon. Businesses that cannot include new technology in their strategies often provide inferior customer care and service experience.
Source: clearvoice.com
Let us see an example. At the same time, some shoppers only shop online or go to physical stores. However, it has been estimated that roughly 58% of shoppers use both channels; additionally, it has been expected that this number will only rise to 73%.
Continuing with this example, brands will have to combine the best of both physical and digital experiences to make the most of their marketing efforts and also meet consumer expectations. This is known as phygital experience.
This article will look into everything there is to know about phygital marketing and how you can use it in email marketing.
What Is Phygital?
Before we learn anything about phygital, we first need to know the phygital meaning. Phygital can be described as anything that falls under both physical and digital worlds. However, the term is mostly used to describe a marketing strategy or a retail experience. Even consumers can be categorized under phygital – they exist in both digital and physical worlds and will participate in both commerce environments.
Therefore, it is only sensible that retailers and marketers will use the same spaces between the physical and digital worlds to meet new and old customers.
Both physical and digital commerce offers unique advantages. Even though more people prefer online shopping today, some aspects of physical shopping cannot be replaced easily. For instance, customers love touching and seeing the products first-hand in a brick-and-mortar store and/or know more about the product from the sales personnel.
According to studies, it has been found that there are people that prefer shopping at physical stores while reading the product review online so that they can make a well-informed purchase.
With the help of the phygital, you will be provided with the best of physical and digital commerce that will provide the ultimate shopping experience to customers and create new opportunities for marketers and retailers.
Source: iveybusinessjournal.com
With the help of phygital retail and marketing strategies, businesses can save their physical stores because they will strongly appeal to Gen Z and Millennial consumers. They use digital platforms for their daily purchases.
What Are Some Features Of Phygital Technologies?
There are different types of technologies being used to improve the phygital experiences of the customers. Some of them include:
1. Artificial Intelligence
In today’s time, Artificial Intelligence has started to play a very important role in improving customer experience and marketing. With the help of AI, you will be able to optimize your website to show relevant and available products once they have been added to the carts. As for in-store bots, they can be used to help customers find the product they are looking for.
2. VR (Virtual Reality) and (AR) Augmented Reality
Like AI, VR and AR technologies have developed at an unprecedented rate. Today, these technologies are used in e-commerce sites and physical stores so that customers can make more informed purchases.
With the help of these technologies, phygital shopping has now become a reality. For instance, customers can upload a selfie on the store’s mobile app and “try on” different glasses or makeup products.
3. Push Notifications (Location-Based)
If you have a dedicated mobile application, push notifications (location-based) work as unique phygital tools. Once the customer is within a certain location, customers can opt to receive targeted messages; the messages will get triggered once the mobile application interacts with the Bluetooth beacons within the store.
For example, suppose the customer is walking past a dress store and has installed and activated the mobile application. In that case, they will receive different types of notifications about ongoing promotions and discounts, etc.
4. Automation
Based on studies, it has been found that marketing automation increases sales productivity by 14.5%. Even in the phygital marketing experience, it has been found that automation indeed plays a critical role. The experience is beneficial for both the company as well as the customers. Most of the menial tasks become easy and fast.
For instance, when a customer schedules an in-store pickup, the information will be sent to the physical store regarding the order and various other instructions. The store staff will know precisely what they need to bring to the customers.
What Are Some Benefits Of Phygital Retail?
Source: konstructdigital.com
There are various benefits of using a phygital strategy. Some of them include:
1. Better Consumer Experience
By streamlining the online and physical shopping experience, you will also simplify the customer’s shopping experience. Consumers will notice the convenience of interacting with your business across all types of channels and at any time.
With the help of a phygital strategy, you will be able to provide various methods related to making payments, shopping, order fulfillment, etc. Since customers will be provided with more flexibility, it will lead to more sales and increased brand loyalty.
2. Building Brand Trust and Awareness
Businesses need to connect with their customers physically and online so that the customers can engage with your company at various points, both physically and digitally. As an online business, if you provide your customers with the option to visit your retail store, they will be able to interact with your brand representatives. This will help boost brand trust and awareness in your business.
3. Provide Personalized Recommendations
One of the best aspects of following a phygital strategy is that customers can be provided with personalized product and service recommendations. This is made possible with the help of online e-commerce solutions (like Shopify) to integrate both your in-store and online purchase history based on the profiles of the customers.
With the help of this feature, the company representatives will be provided with a brief idea about the likes and dislikes of the customer so that they will be able to recommend the right products/services and create a stronger connection. In turn, this interaction will lead to more sales.
With the help of personalized interactions, your customers will have a better shopping experience. Your brand will also get more returns on your ad spend and increase your brand’s revenue.
4. Boosting Brand Loyalty
Some methods that can help you boost your brand loyalty naturally include personalizing marketing strategies, enhancing the customer experience, and increasing brand awareness. If the customers feel more understood and seen, they will keep making purchases. Additionally, if you provide more flexibility based on their shopping styles, they will stay loyal to your brand.
5. Preventing Stockouts
When you are using a single platform for both physical and online stores, you will be able to accurately report inventory levels, which can help you prevent stockouts.
For instance, Shopify is a tool that can help you stock all variants of the product in your physical warehouse and store locations. With the help of this feature, you will be able to identify inventory that is about to run out so that you can place more orders in advance before the stock reaches zero.
How Can You Use Phygital In Email Marketing?
Source: konstructdigital.com
To understand this, let us first take an example – Amazon Go. When you pick products from the shelf, the trackers keep sending signals to the system so that the item gets added to your virtual cart, and the process gets reversed when you return the product to the shelf.
Amazon often uses this data for email marketing. For example, if you keep adding certain products to your virtual cart but keep returning them before checking out, you are hesitant about the product. The reasons could be many – perhaps it is too expensive for your budget.
With the help of email marketing, brands will be able to send personalized discounts or even cheaper alternatives to the products you keep returning to the shelf. With the use of this feature, you could get persuaded to buy that particular product in the future.
As you can see, a phygital approach will provide brands with customer insights that can be leveraged, resulting in better email campaigns and increased Return-On-Investment. However, you also need to know that this technology is still under development – this means that brands will be able to realize its benefits as the technology keeps evolving.
Final Thoughts
If you, as a brand, have not yet decided to try getting phygital, you are likely falling behind your competition. As you can see, phygital makes the best of both the digital and physical worlds. If you have been focusing on one, it is time to intertwine both.
