Why aren’t retailers already integrating their channels to a greater extent? Many are put off by perceived complexity and cost, and it’s true that to allow for every combination of interactions in all channels would be far too expensive.

Capgemini’s solution is a practical one: we help you identify your most profitable customer journeys and then make those journeys as efficient and attractive as possible. For example, you might find that the most profitable order is one that is placed online and collected in-store, in which case you would focus first on optimising that specific journey from the point of view of both retailer and customer.

In this section:

• Benefits of Integrated Multi-Channel Retail
• Capgemini’s approach
• Capgemini’s capabilities

Benefits of Integrated Multi-Channel Retail

Integration between channels improves the customer experience, and gives the retailer a much better chance of hanging on to their business. What’s more, customers who shop with one retailer in multiple channels tend to be disproportionately valuable customers compared with those who only shop in a single channel.

Integration also means there can be a single stock pool, instead of separate ones for each channel, with consequent reductions in both working capital and markdowns.

Capgemini’s approach

We have developed a maturity model that allows us to compare a shopping journey with leading practice. We can use that maturity model to carry out a quick initial health check and suggest areas where you can profitably focus. After that we can help you develop a multi-channel strategy, or explore the business case for individual investments.

We have solutions to help you with specific issues, for example:

Web Conversion. Data from the Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index shows that many companies are noticing a decline in their hit-to-transaction conversion rate. We can use the web analytics that you already have to help improve the usability of your websites, driving conversion levels back up.

Multi-channel Fulfilment. By combining, say, home delivery with click-and-collect, you can achieve big efficiencies, including the merging of stock pools – an approach that we have helped GAME and Gamestation to apply very successfully.

Integration is not only about systems and processes. People, too, need to be motivated to behave in ways that promote integration. John Lewis, for example, incentivises all its partners with a share of the total business, and so store staff are happy to help customers to place orders online where it is helpful. We can help you design the organisational frameworks to make this happen.

In future, stores may acquire a quite different role from their past ones, as pioneers like Apple and Nokia are discovering. Please contact us to discuss our vision of the Store of the Future.

Capgemini’s capabilities

Capgemini’s Integrated Multi-channel Retail engagements are supported by a global team of over 500 retail specialists. We have substantial experience of helping clients develop business cases for this type of transformation. We also have 1,500 website design and build experts who can help create your next-generation e-commerce site if required.

Capgemini has an alliance with IMRG (Interactive Media In Retail Group), the industry body for global e-retail. Together we gather and publish regular statistics such as the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index, which tracks online sales by sector and gives us insights into online shopping behaviour to inform our Multi-Channel health checks and web conversion offers.