Omnichannel Retail Strategies

India’s digital-first fashion brand journey - from Clicks to Bricks India’s homegrown D2C fashion landscape has entered its next chapter in the last decade or so Cava Athleisure recently launched its first offline store in Bengaluru Orion Mall And not just Cava, after years of building strong digital communities, brands like Freakins, Blissclub, Snitch, The Bear House etc are stepping confidently into the offline world, opening physical stores after initial few years of operating digitally 🔶 Why - the shift 🔸Brand-Building & Community Physical stores offer experiential branding, events & community-led engagement including consumers & influencers, something digital can’t fully replicate The store facade & window, be it in a mall or high-street also works as an impactful billboard in the consumers mind amidst the digital clutter - announcing the brand has arrived 🔸Consumer Trust & Tangibility Fashion is tactile. As brands scale, offline stores become powerful trust signals, letting consumers to see, touch, feel & try before buy Also enables brands to do visual product storytelling and store team engaging with consumers in a much better way 🔸Higher AOV & Better Conversions Stores often deliver higher average order values and far stronger conversion rates than digital channels Customers walking in these stores are mostly brand loyalist with real purchase intent, and more often than not asking - naya kya hai? 🔸CAC Optimization With rising acquisition costs online, offline retail becomes a strategic lever to reduce dependence on paid performance marketing While for customers, they get the flexibility to explore amongst the considered set of brands before zeroing down to their final purchase ◼️Opportunities Ahead Omnichannel flywheel: Unified single view of inventory, possibly endless isles + data + loyalty + flexibility of click-collect or buy-return → seamless journeys and a happy customer Experiential retail: Stores doubling as multiple touchpoints from content studios, event spaces to even micro-warehouses ◼️Challenges to Navigate High real-estate rentals & operational costs Supply-chain discipline needed for consistent in-store experience Balancing product assortment and price parity across channels Maintaining brand freshness in an offline setting ◼️The Way Forward The future belongs to digitally-built, omnichannel-scaled brands While online gives speed & reach, offline gives depth & loyalty The most successful D2C labels are those that treat physical stores not as an afterthought or fomo, but as a strategic extension of their brand ecosystem Interesting fact: The D2C brands who started over a decade ago took slightly longer for online to offline shift (~7 years), vis-a-vis within the last decade (~5 years), and the more recent ones much lesser than that Clicks create the brand, Bricks will only compound it. Your thoughts! #Indian #Fashion #Retail #D2C #Online #Brand #Offline #Expansion

E-commerce didn’t kill retail, all the predictions got it wrong. In 2025, 91% of businesses compete primarily on customer experience, not price or product. And nowhere is this more visible than in the world’s leading high streets, where physical stores are no longer points of sale, but platforms for brand experience Welcome to EXPERIENTAL retail The stores winning today aren’t transactional. They’re immersive, emotional, and designed to be lived, not just visited. Flagships and pop-ups are turning prime locations into experience hubs, spaces where consumers explore, test, share, and connect. And that’s something pure e-commerce still can’t replicate >>IT’S ALL ABOUT SENSES Digital is efficient → Physical is emotional. From skincare labs to AI-powered diagnostics and immersive scent journeys, experiential retail activates all senses, creating deeper, longer-lasting brand relationships +85% of repeat purchases are driven by emotional connection +66% of consumers are more likely to buy after engaging experiences >THE NEW ROLE OF HIGH STREETS The most valuable retail spaces today aren’t about inventory. They’re about impact. Top locations in cities like Paris, London, or New York have become stages where brands perform, blending storytelling, design, and technology to create omnichannel ecosystems The store drives content → Content drives traffic Traffic drives conversion → both online and offline >THE VIRAL EFFECT Experiential retail is built to be shared. Instagrammable environments, interactive installations, and creator-first design turn visitors into media channels. Physical retail is no longer the end of the journey. It’s the beginning of amplification +83% of consumers trust user-generated content over brand messaging +78% say social sharing influences purchase decisions >REAL-TIME INSIGHT Experiential spaces are also powerful innovation labs. Brands test products, gather feedback, and refine positioning in real time, something digital alone can’t fully replicate. +22% improvement in product success with live feedback +15–20% sales uplift in nearby channels post-activation >EXPERIENCE -> TRANSACTION Exclusivity, urgency, and storytelling drive action. Limited-time pop-ups, collaborations, and one-off experiences create FOMO that traditional retail simply can’t match +Activations can drive 25–35% higher conversion rates +88% consumers are more likely to purchase after a unique experience CONCLUSION Retail isn’t becoming obsolete. It’s becoming the most powerful media channel a brand owns. In a world saturated with digital noise, physical experiences cut through, turning passive consumers into active participants and loyal advocates. The future of retail isn’t about more stores. It’s about better experiences in the right places Featured brands Chanel Charlotte Tilbury Dasique Lancome Latafa Louis Vuitton Sephora YSL #experientialretail #brandactivation #retailInnovation #omnichannel #beautyIndustry #popupstore

“Offline is dying.” “Everything is moving to quick commerce.” Then why did Swiggy Instamart just open a physical store? That’s the real question. For years, the narrative has been simple: Speed wins. Convenience wins. Physical retail loses. But reality is more nuanced. If online convenience was enough, the biggest quick-commerce player wouldn’t invest in brick-and-mortar. Yet they did. Why? Because commerce is not just about delivery time. Even after 10-minute deliveries, customers still value: Touching the product Discovering new items serendipitously Immediate gratification without a screen Trust built through physical presence Online solves access. Offline solves experience. The future isn’t online vs offline. It’s online + offline, tightly integrated. Physical stores are no longer inventory hubs. They’re: Brand theatres Trust anchors Data collection engines Hyperlocal demand signals Swiggy didn’t open a store because online is failing. They opened it because online alone is incomplete. The brands that will win aren’t choosing sides. They’re building distribution moats across both worlds. Offline isn’t dying. It’s being redefined. And the smartest digital-first companies already know it. #FutureOfRetail #QuickCommerce #Omnichannel #RetailTrends #ExperientialRetail

If more of your store sales start on TikTok lately, you might wanna read this. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦. The checkout happens in-store. But the sale happens everywhere else. Here's the reality: This year 60%+, and in 2027, 70% of retail sales will be digitally influenced. I can't emphasize this enough; here's what most brands miss—digital influence isn't just about online sales. It's about shaping every moment before the customer even walks into your store. L'Oréal cracked this code: 100M+ AR try-on sessions driving real conversions. 31 brands orchestrating seamless experiences across 72 countries. No.1 in beauty influencer marketing (29% market share), 20-80% higher conversion rates through enhanced digital experiences. The new customer journey isn't linear—it's layered: - They discover you on social - Research you through reviews and UGC - Try your product virtually through AR - Get retargeted with personalized content - Finally purchase in-store (feeling confident they're making the right choice) Every touchpoint matters, and every interaction influences the final decision. The brands winning today aren't just selling products—they're orchestrating experiences across owned, paid, and earned media that guide customers from curiosity to checkout. Digital discovery is increasingly pay-to-play and shoppers are paying attention. ++ Tactical Recommendations for CPG / FMCG Brands ++ 1. Beyond just having perfect, high SOV product pages, create discovery ecosystems. - Optimize for "zero-moment-of-truth" searches. - Activate shoppable content at scale. - Leverage user-generated content as social proof. Brands that do these see a 35% higher conversion rate from digital touchpoints to in-store purchases. 2. Connect digital engagement directly to retail execution. - Geo-target digital campaigns to drive foot traffic - Create "store-specific" digital content CPG brands using geo-targeted social ads see a 23% higher in-store sales lift in targeted markets. 3. Most important one; stop flying blind—measure digital influence on offline sales. - Implement unique promo codes for each digital touchpoint to track conversion paths. - Use customer surveys at point of purchase. - Partner with retailers on shared data insights Brands with proper attribution see 15-25% improvement in marketing ROI within 12 months. 𝗧𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 ecommert® 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝟭𝟰,𝟲𝟬𝟬+ 𝗖𝗣𝗚, 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘁® : 𝗖𝗣𝗚 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿. #CPG #FMCG #AI #ecommerce Procter & Gamble PepsiCo Unilever The Coca-Cola Company Nestlé Mondelēz International Kraft Heinz Ferrero Mars Colgate-Palmolive Henkel Bayer Haleon Kenvue The HEINEKEN Company Carlsberg Group Philips Samsung Electronics Panasonic North America

Our latest research with InPost reveals that two in five UK adults – over 21 million people – used a parcel locker in the past year. Another 20% say they’re open to trying, signalling strong headroom for growth. Our research reveals a fascinating shift in consumer behaviour with powerful implications for retail strategy: 🔹 Younger generations are leading. 66% of Gen Z and 54% of Millennials have used a locker in the past year. For digital-native shoppers, lockers are another extension of omnichannel choice. They prioritise speed, flexibility and control over when and where they collect – lockers deliver on all three. 🔹 Behaviour is spreading upwards. Almost half of under-45s now use lockers monthly, but adoption is broadening. Middle-income households – and often those who are the least likely to pay for premium delivery – are now showing the strongest intent to increase usage, underlining that lockers are becoming a mainstream option, and particularly attractive to those consumers who are adverse to delivery/returns costs. 🔹 Experience is the accelerator. Positive first-hand experience drives repeat use. Once shoppers understand the reliability, 24/7 access and reduced risk of missed deliveries, lockers quickly shift from “alternative” to “preferred” channel. 🔹 Strategic fit for retailers. Lockers support omnichannel ambitions by lowering failed delivery costs, boosting sustainability credentials, and freeing up final mile capacity. They also align with the growing expectation that fulfilment should fit around lifestyles, not the other way round. For retailers, delivery and returns choice has become critical in an age where expectations are rising, lifestyles are increasingly unstructured, and loyalty is fragile. Shoppers now expect fulfilment to flex around their lives rather than the other way round, and friction at this stage of the journey can have significant consequences. Our research shows that lockers offer reliability, 24/7 access and a level of control that makes life easier and can build loyalty. At the same time, the economics of fulfilment are under growing strain. Final mile delivery and return logistics have become one of retail’s biggest headaches, weighing heavily on margins and operational capacity. Lockers can offer part of the solution - enabling consolidation, reducing delivery failures and lowering logistics costs. This moves lockers from a peripheral add-on to a core element of an omnichannel model. A lever for loyalty, profitability and long-term resilience in the final mile. Download our new report with InPost: https://lnkd.in/eKK99MmM

It’s fascinating to see two very different retail narratives playing out right now in the Australian market and the common thread tying them together is how promotional activity and channel strategy impact profitability. On the one hand, Adore Beauty Group is demonstrating that a disciplined, omnichannel strategy can drive not just sales but improving margins and profit performance. After accelerating its omni-channel model, blending online strength with physical store expansion, retail media and personalised loyalty, the business reported record EBITDA and improved gross margin, with plans to scale physical stores meaningfully over the next few years. On the other hand, Adairs Retail Group shows the risk of leaning too heavily on prolonged discounting and promotional activity. While the company is on track for solid top-line growth, margin pressure from extended promotions has dented gross profitability, even as leadership works to recalibrate pricing and promotional cadence. This pattern isn’t unique to these two names. What’s interesting about Adore’s results is that their physical retail rollout is outperforming the core online business, which highlights a broader trend we’re seeing across brands like Billini, LSKD, Proud Poppy Clothing and Arms Of Eve - where well-executed store networks are proving not just additive but strategically critical. These retail footprints can capture customers and margin in ways that pure online channels alone struggle to sustain. The contrast here speaks to a broader lesson in retail today: discounting may drive short-term revenue, but it comes at a real cost to margin and long-term profitability. Meanwhile, strategies that thoughtfully balance channel expansion, inventory discipline, loyalty and customer experience appear to unlock stronger financial performance. It’s still early days in this cycle, but these case studies are already offering valuable real-world evidence for any brand thinking about how to balance promotional activity with sustainable profit growth. 

Indian influencer marketing is evolving into a full-blown performance engine. In 2024, the industry crossed ₹3,600 crore, and it’s expected to grow another 25% in 2025. But the real story is in the mindset shift. Indian brands are no longer using influencer campaigns for vague brand awareness or chasing viral reels. They’re using them for trackable ROI, conversion, customer acquisition, and brand trust. Most brands have moved on from one-off influencer shoutouts. Today, 72% of them prefer long-term collaborations. It’s about building ongoing relationships that feel authentic to the audience and credible to the customer. What’s even more interesting is the role of micro and nano-influencers. A nano-influencer might only have 5,000 followers, but with engagement rates between 4–6% on Instagram, they often outperform creators 20 times their size. For brands that want depth instead of just breadth, these small creators are ROI gold. And then there’s regional content. Whether it’s Chennai Mobiles running vernacular campaigns or Levista Coffee leveraging local language storytelling, India’s most successful influencer campaigns today aren’t PAN India, they’re hyperlocal. Creators speaking to their communities in their own dialects are driving both emotional resonance and sales lift. But all of this only works because brands are finally treating influencer marketing like performance marketing. They’re tracking CPE, CAC, ROAS, and even sentiment data. They’re using UTM links, affiliate codes, custom landing pages, and creator-specific funnels. They’re building dashboards, running A/B tests, and in some cases, even calculating Earned Media Value to understand the true reach and monetary worth of a campaign. Take Dorco, for example. The brand worked with 105 influencers to launch in India. They didn’t just get views, they got over 3,000 link clicks per influencer, 250K impressions per post, and a massive boost in brand awareness without spending on traditional ads. Flipkart did a winterwear campaign with 32 male creators and saw a 20% spike in category sales. SUGAR Cosmetics went from industry-average engagement to 4–5%, and in just two years, attributed 3X sales growth to creator-led campaigns. Mamaearth spent ₹182 crore on influencers in FY23 and it worked, because their focus wasn’t just on going viral, but on going credible. The biggest shift is that brands now factor in more than just short-term sales. They’re looking at repeat purchases, brand lift, earned media, and overall LTV. The smartest ones know that influencer marketing isn’t just a line item in the marketing budget, it’s a core part of their business engine. Influencers have become distribution. They are brand trust. And they are revenue drivers, if you’re tracking them right.

Influencer marketing has come a long way. What started as “pay for a post” is now a $21B industry. But here’s the problem: too many brands are still measuring success with likes, comments, and follower counts. Vanity metrics are easy to report, but they don’t answer the question every CEO and CFO asks us as CMOs: Is this driving growth? It’s time to rewrite the rules. ✅ Quality over Quantity The right audience matters more than reach. Micro- and mid-tier creators often deliver deeper trust and better conversions than celebrities. ✅ Commerce over Clicks Influencers aren’t just amplifiers anymore, they’re storefronts. TikTok Shop, Instagram Shopping, and affiliate programs prove that influence = transactions. ✅ LTV over Impressions Customers acquired through trusted voices are often more loyal. That’s long-term value we can measure. ✅ Brand Halo Influencers build cultural relevance and trust in ways paid ads simply can’t. At impact.com, we’ve seen this shift firsthand. Brands use our platform to track every stage of influence, from discovery to commerce impact to lifetime value. By connecting influencer partnerships with performance data, we help marketers prove what we already know: influence is one of the most accountable, growth-driving channels out there. The mandate for CMOs is clear: stop treating influencer marketing as “nice-to-have” brand spend. Start treating it as a core growth channel. Because in the end, influence isn’t about how many people are watching. It’s about how many people are buying.

Every company says they listen to customers. But most just hear them. There's a difference. After spending years building feedback loops, here's what I've learned: Feedback isn't about collecting data. It's about creating change. Most companies fail at feedback because: - They send random surveys - They collect scattered feedback - They store insights in silos - They never close the loop The result? Frustrated customers. Missed opportunities. Lost revenue. Here's how to build real feedback loops: 1. Gather feedback intelligently - NPS isn't enough - CSAT tells half the story - One channel never works Instead: - Run targeted post-interaction surveys - Conduct deep-dive customer interviews - Analyze product usage patterns - Monitor support conversations - Build customer advisory boards - Track social mentions 2. Create a single source of truth - Consolidate feedback from everywhere - Tag and categorize insights - Track trends over time - Make it accessible to everyone 3. Turn feedback into action - Prioritize based on impact - Align with business goals - Create clear ownership - Set implementation timelines But here's the most important part: Close the loop. When customers give feedback: - Acknowledge it immediately - Update them on progress - Show them implemented changes - Demonstrate their impact The biggest mistakes I see: Feedback Overload: - Collecting too much data - No clear action plan - Analysis paralysis Biased Collection: - Listening to the loudest voices - Ignoring silent majority - Over-indexing on complaints Slow Response: - Taking months to act - No progress updates - Lost customer trust Remember: Good feedback loops aren't about tools. They're about trust. Every piece of feedback is a customer saying: "I care enough to help you improve." Don't waste that trust. The best companies don't just collect feedback. They turn it into visible change. They show customers their voice matters. They build trust through action. Start small: 1. Pick one feedback channel 2. Create a clear process 3. Act quickly on insights 4. Show results 5. Scale what works Your customers are talking. Are you really listening? More importantly, are you acting? What's your approach to customer feedback? How do you close the loop? ------------------ ▶️ Want to see more content like this and also connect with other CS & SaaS enthusiasts? You should join Tidbits. We do short round-ups a few times a week to help you learn what it takes to be a top-notch customer success professional. Join 1999+ community members! 💥 [link in the comments section]

If you've heard "half the money I spend on advertising is wasted", then this paper might be for you. A new study using Nielsen household-level data across 40 brands (mostly colas, cereals, and other low-differentiation goods) empirically found several nuggets of wisdom. TLDR for my fellow marketing science folks? It provides a microfoundation for positive and negative spillovers in advertising, especially among habitual buyers. 1️⃣ When consumers are exposed to multiple ads in short succession, their ability to remember any single ad suffers. The interference leads to misattribution (you remember seeing an ad, but forget for whom) or simple forgetting (you saw something, but it didn’t stick). Application: If you're running simultaneous campaigns across competing brands or categories, be careful. One campaign may cannibalize the effectiveness of another (yours or your competition!). 2️⃣ Advertising has positive spillovers when it reinforces memory for similar products (e.g. Coke and Pepsi), but negative spillovers when ads are for very different goods (e.g. cereal and shampoo). The framework helps explain both over- and underperformance in cluttered advertising environments. Application: This gives a theoretical grounding for media mix optimization. Context (category similarity, consumer habits, ad sequencing) matters just as much as spend level. 3️⃣ The strongest effects of advertising (good and bad) are seen among habitual consumers. Ads increase their probability of purchasing again, but also make them vulnerable to interference or confusion when exposed to rival ads. Application: Targeting loyalists with retention ads? Great. But make sure your competitors aren’t tagging along for the ride. Behavior isn't linear (surprise, surprise) because memory, attention, and habit shape how messages land. That means it has implications for measurement, budget optimization, and even MMM specs. 🔍 I'm attaching the NBER version of the paper. Check it out and let me know what your experiences are. Have you seen these effects in the wild?