Interview: Olga Kotsur, Co-founder and CEO, Mercaux
RTIH sits down with Mercaux head honcho, Olga Kotsur, to discuss navigating the coronavirus outbreak, emerging triumphant at the RTIH Innovation Awards and preparing for a post-Covid world.
RTIH: Tell us about Mercaux
OK: We all know that retail has been changing for a number of years and this change has now accelerated due to the pandemic.
Stores are no longer siloed points of sale but are inherently integrated into other channels. As a result, they have naturally evolved into multi-purpose centres that wear multiple hats such as marketing, fulfilment, remote selling and of course, experiential.
Mercaux is a built-for-purpose in-store platform that is supporting this transition in its entirety as retailers quickly realise they aren’t able to simply “sneak into” in-store digital transformation.
The same way they had to deploy e-commerce platforms to serve customers online, or marketing platforms to launch promotional and targeted campaigns, they now need a technology provider that can deliver on these changes in-store.
We do so by deploying in-store solutions for Staff and Customers. As an example, using Mercaux’s app for Sales Associates, retailers are able to serve customers in-store faster and in a more personalised way using various customer and product data points available in a retailer’s existing systems, and of course, complete the sale regardless of where the stock is.
But that is just the tip of the iceberg. By using our technology they capture specific customer interests or needs, so that online and marketing teams can leverage that for hyper-personalised remarketing campaigns.
They might also decide to continue the conversation themselves via WhatsApp after the customer has left the store, respond to online and social media requests about products, or re-engage with customers that haven’t purchased for a while with products or promotions they might be interested in.
So, the Store Associates are not just becoming more effective in-store, but in fact - they are evolving into service agents for every channel - in-store, online or even as a “human extension” to marketing and social media channels.
Shoppers are also getting more from their store visits.
Mercaux’s Self-Service Kiosk, Consumer Web App and Digital Fitting Room solutions enable them to access all the digital content and product information themselves to enhance their experience, but if they need the help of a Store Associate, they can request help from within the technology if they need it.
RTIH: Mercaux recently emerged triumphant in the Technology Vendor of the Year (UK) category at the 2020 RTIH Innovation Awards. What does an awards win like that mean to Mercaux?
OK: We were delighted and humbled to be selected as the UK Technology Vendor of the Year. Moments like this mean a lot to our team, and are a testament to the agility and adaptability of our customers.
Last year was certainly a difficult year for retailers, and with this in mind we worked on rapidly deploying brand new solutions that specifically focused on allowing retailers to get the most from their locked down stores, such as remote selling and buy online fulfil from store.
When lockdown measures were eased, we considered how anxious customers would want to return to stores and interact with staff, and so released solutions such as the B2C Web App and Queue scenario that helped them keep socially distanced from staff and advanced fulfilment options for them to purchase through one channel and have it fulfilled by another.
It was rewarding to see this work pay off, and to have the judges recognise the significance of digital transformation in facilitating retail’s recovery.
RTIH: How was 2020 for Mercaux?
OK: 2020 was a digital wakeup call for the retail industry.
Those who were too slow to react to the changing needs of the customer had to re-prioritise their focus and in doing so, quickly realised that without the right technology in place, this was not going to be possible.
Also, many realised that even though e-commerce is growing fast it increasingly became harder to manage spiralling online customer acquisition and retention costs, so by connecting stores with the digital world, all channels benefit as stores can deliver the services and experiences that online can’t.
As well as winning at the RTIH Innovation Awards, we were pleased to strengthen our relationships with existing customers by deploying Mercaux in more stores and launching new solutions.
We also built brand new partnerships too. It was rewarding to be able to support retailers throughout lockdown, enabling them to engage with stay-at-home shoppers and, in Holland & Barrett’s case (who stayed open throughout lockdown as an essential retailer), to put customers at ease by developing Covid secure store-side solutions.
Digital adoption soared as an increasing number of retailers moved to develop their online offerings, alongside bringing digital capabilities in-store with innovations such as video consultations, digital fitting rooms and conversational commerce.
The pandemic massively accelerated trends that have been in motion for several years and as a result, we have seen prioritisation given to digital investments.
RTIH: What have been the biggest challenges and opportunities around adapting to the coronavirus outbreak?
OK: I’d say one of the biggest challenges was around dealing with new customer expectations. The retail industry is always talking about evolving customer expectations, however, when the pandemic hit, these expectations changed dramatically.
For example, retailers should consider how expectations have changed with the reliance on e-commerce.
Customers have grown very accustomed to the benefits of online shopping, and now expect to see this level of rich content, personalisation and flexible fulfilment in-store too - the consumer demand for fast delivery on their terms is likely to be an everlasting trend.
Another big challenge posed by the pandemic is around stores. With unprecedented store closures throughout 2020, retailers were faced with two big questions - what should we do with our stores and store associates, and what will be the expectation of the store when we reopen?
We have strong opinions in this area as discussed earlier and wholly believe that the Connected Store is an important missing element of the puzzle that needs to be addressed.
RTIH: What are your retail predictions for 2021? Do you, for instance, see physical retailers bouncing back once the coronavirus has been overcome?
OK: If 2020 taught us one thing, it was to be cautious when predicting the future. But, yes, we strongly believe there will still be a place for the store, but it will have a new role.
As we move into a post-Covid future, stores will remain important, but the reason for visiting (or engaging remotely with) the store will change.
Over the past year, we have seen the emergence of new store formats, and we’re predicting that the role of the store will diversify even further in 2021.
We also anticipate that the role of in-store employees will change. Store teams will need to provide a new level of service to satisfy the personalised and seamless online experience that customers have become accustomed to while shopping online.
This will probably mean a continued growth in the number of 121 shopping appointments, the use of clienteling capabilities to deliver a personalised omnichannel services as well as an ongoing drive to upskill the workforce when it comes to digital literacy.
You can find out more about our 2021 retail predictions by reading our full blog post, but, in short, one thing’s clear: 2021 will certainly be a challenging year of recovery while also providing exciting opportunities for reinvention.
RTIH: What can we expect to see from Mercaux over the next 12 months?
OK: We have lots of exciting things planned for this year.
In January, we announced the extension of our partnership with sneaker retailer, Stadium Goods, who are now using Mercaux to assist with all stages in the customer journey, but there are plenty more exciting partnerships on their way.
In early 2021, we will continue to build out our suite of remote selling solutions to allow retailers to engage with stay at home shoppers during lockdown, but we also see this as a popular long-term option for customers to engage with staff even when our high streets are “open” once more.
And last but not least, we are crossing our fingers for a resurgence of in-person events, where we can once more engage with the retail community face-to-face.
