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You Be You: How Retail Can Learn From Uber, Without Trying To Be Them

This article is more than 7 years old.

Uber has been on a money-raising streak and now has a valuation near $62.5 billion dollars (yep, “billion” with a capital “B”), making it worth more than 80% of the companies in the S&P 500. No question about it, Uber is officially destroying the taxi industry.

This story isn’t unique to transportation, though. Brands and retailers everywhere are searching high and low for ways to beat names like Airbnb, Amazon and Etsy.

Trying to keep their heads above water (and their prices from bottoming out), half of the brick-and-mortar retailers are grasping for any new digital tactic to help boost traffic and sales, while the rest don’t move beyond 20-year-old strategies due to fear. But the answer may be closer than they think.

Traditional retailers need to stop chasing the latest “big thing” and instead do their own thing—and do it really well. Digital is now the way of life for consumers, and mobile plays a large role in their shopping journey. Brands can find new ways that allow them to stay true themselves while expanding the experience for this new consumer.

Here are three examples of how they can make this happen.

Sharing Economy, But Not Success

The idea of a “sharing economy” works out well for consumers: They get convenience and savings. But what do traditional retailers and brands get? A whole lot of new challenges.

Let’s start with a real-life example to put this into perspective.

Beyond its success at raising funds, Uber is rolling over the competition in the way of service and on-demand capabilities. Recently, I was in New York City for a retailer meeting and needed to get a car from my hotel to the retailer’s offices. I hailed a cab, got inside, gave the driver my destination and then promptly got back out of the cab.

What gives? The cab driver was only interested in taking me to the airport.

There’s a growing trend among taxi drivers who do not wish to pick up and drop off short-haul riders in the city, citing Uber as the reason. Wait, what?

Meaning that this taxi driver gave up on a perfectly good trip in order to sit still and wait for a passenger that was going to a particular destination, who knows when. His loss.

My suggestion, and this goes beyond just the taxi industry, is to get back in the fast lane, be the driver of your success and hustle hard. This new wave of sharing-economy brands and startups aren’t really sharing anything at all; they are solving a consumer pain point and selling a solution, potentially to the detriment of your brand.

My best advice is to look at what your brand does best, pair those advantages with the growing amount of data and insights that customers are providing today, and find a way to make what’s old new again. Experience is everything to today’s mobile consumer, and if you are able to offer convenience and value at the same time, then you’re well on your way.

Click and Collect Breathes Life Into Stores

One of the greatest advantages that brick-and-mortar stores have at their disposal is the ability to leverage their physical store space in order to bridge the gap between online and offline shopping. Big box and major chain retailers have a footprint large enough to allow them to utilize these spaces as distribution centers, event spaces and more.

Traditional retailers don’t need to re-create their businesses to more fiercely compete against the new brands, they just need to think outside the (big) box. The rise of “buy online, pick up in-store” capabilities—also known as “click and collect” in some circles—are offering brands a solution that will make headway against the sales bleed to online retailers.

By giving customers the convenient option to buy online and pick up at the location nearest them, stores are able to do several things:

  • First, they increase foot traffic in their physical stores by appealing to their cross-channel shoppers, potentially increasing the overall sale when a customer decides to pick up additional items.
  • Second, they can reduce costs, like shipping, and streamline the distribution process so that customers have the products in hand faster.
  • Last, it also allows brick-and-mortar stores to act as warehouses for inventory, providing online shoppers access to more products that may be available in stores across the U.S.

Digital Is Your (Customer’s) Best Friend

Today’s consumer wants to own less and experience more. Millennials and Gen Z consumers are leading the charge when it comes to mobile use for activities like shopping. But even more important than the technology, they want good customer service, the ability to quickly find what they need and to buy from brands that are interested in connecting with who they are more than selling them something.

They cross-shop brick-and-mortar stores, online boutiques and specialty stores, buy clothing at festival pop-up shops and aren’t afraid to tap, tap, buy on their mobile device.

Brands like Levi’s and Brooks Brothers are looking into new “RealSense” technology from Intel that will help them re-create the shopping experience in a way that online cannot mimic. Brooks Brothers hopes to integrate the technology into its Made to Measure initiative with full-body scanning to help customers find, say, an ultra-tailored suit for their needs. It also means more data for the retailer to dig into and keep on hand for future orders.

Brick-and-mortar stores are more in tune with their local market’s needs and have the ability to get them products faster. More and more, the traditional brands that are succeeding are those that are thinking about the larger ecosystem in which their consumer engages and are willing to partner with others to reach them.

Additionally, mobile tactics like geo-location targeting and personalized content can help retailers learn more about who is going into their stores and what type of content really grabs the buyer’s attention.

The effective use of smartphone content and mobile engagement will be key to the success of brick-and-mortar retailers in 2016.

It’s important for retailers today to look hard at those disrupting the industry around them but to remain true to who they are at their core. Don’t change your entire business; just modify it appropriately. Use digital to your advantage, data to build insights and partnership to expand your reach.

Remember this: It’s easier than ever for customers to hail an empty cab in the big city, because everyone wants an Uber. Seems like the perfect time for taxis—and everyone else—to sharpen up their elbows and get back in the game.

Follow Michael Jones on Twitter @mdjonesy orLinkedIn.