Excelling in Multi-Channel Retail Experience and Convenience
Liverpool One continues to be a hive of Christmas spirit once gain. A festive destination for local shoppers locally and further a field, Liverpool One’s magic continues to lure people of all ages across its threshold whatever the state of the retail economy.
For me, Liverpool One has always been the vision of the future of retail and founded firmly on the modern shopper’s thirst for experience and convenience. It was built to reinvent the retail experience, regenerate Liverpool and fuses together perfectly retail, digital and destination marketing. 
A labyrinth of entertainment, retail and culinary excellence with big brand and independent retailers sat side by side within a refreshing mix of fresco and indoor environments, Liverpool One is a fusion of elements wrapped into one powerful experience which only seems to be proving more and more popular.
So what is it that makes Liverpool One just so attractive to baby boomers, generation X through to the digital savvy millennials? And what can retailers large and small learn from some simple principles that made and continue to make Liverpool One a desirable and lucrative retail destination with a distinct difference?
Going Beyond Transaction….it’s all about Experience and Convenience
Back in 2000, Liverpool and developers Grosvenor, saw something few other cities and retailers saw – shoppers wanted more out of their valuable spare time. They wanted more than just bargain shopping. They wanted more fun. They wanted exceptional experiences. And they wanted everything as conveniently as possible. 
Nearly a decade on since Liverpool One opened its doors, it has become an outstanding example of pure convenience and experience – the holy grail of retail today.
As we begin to enter 2017 this holy grail of retail convenience and experience continues to challenge the multi-channel retailer, stress IT retail software and frustrate senior management and Boards. What the visionaries of Liverpool One did right was to stand back with a blank sheet of paper and reinvent retail as a destination of experiences and conveniences. 
They understood the changing consumer and that the experience is all important and that shopping must go beyond transaction.
Rather than compete head on with online retailers like many attempted, Liverpool One understood that online shopping does not provide the experiences that we as people need. Physical shopping is a social and sensory experience – something the online world can never deliver (or at least not today!). 
Designed and built to bring the online and physical worlds together, Liverpool One makes shopping easy whatever channel the transaction takes place.
With an Amazon Click and Collect hub and Doddle Collect and Return station, abundant parking and well connected public transport, the whole shopping experience could not be more convenient and flexible when it comes to purchasing, delivery, collection and returns. The customer has the power of choice.
John Lewis and Argos are just two brands who have invested in purpose built stores for Liverpool One and re-thought how these units need to work for the modern shopper.
With multi-channel strategies and the omni-channel experience at the top of their agendas, both John Lewis and Argos have designed their Liverpool One outlets on the assumption that many consumers today want to browse online but still have the instore shopping experience – with none of the queue or car parking hassles.
With digital aisles encouraging shoppers to buy more on collection, instore merchandising and show rooming, combined with the hospitality, environment and convenience, retailers at Liverpool One are seeing sales increase by blending the shopping experiences of online and instore into one for a heightened shopping experience.
Blurring the Boundaries of Physical and Online Retailing….Delivering Omni-channel
Liverpool One went on to blur the boundaries of the online and physical retail world to extend the shopping experience and critically, deliver convenience to its buying visitors through flag ship stores, retailers combining online, mobile and instore sales underpinned with Click and Collect, car parking and extended digital aisles for home delivery.
Looking up towards Church Street, Forever 21’s huge digital screen towers bringing the digital world to life in what was once just an ordinary and traditional high street. Liverpool One’s undercover and al fresco streets are lined with digital screens interspersed with “green landscaping” and contemporary displays and lighting. 
Whilst walking towards John Lewis’ flag ship my experience is heightened as I can’t help be drawn into a few independent shops and their Christmas window displays lit under the atmospheric Liverpool One festive spirit. 
The constant reminders are all around me letting me know it’s easy for me to collect and return my shopping, order instore with the convenience of home delivery at home and message to remind me to visit the retailer online or on mobile.
Collective Experiences that Work
What’s very clear is the collective experience and convenience Liverpool One delivers. It is no single element that makes even the most reluctant of shoppers participate in its soaring footfall.
It is not just about Brands, designer goods, it’s about enabling local independents to flourish and commercially gain too and allowing pop-up stores to add to the experience. It is not about instore retail. It’s all about thinking about online and instore collectively and thinking as one when it comes to the customer experience and convenience. 
Shops, cafes, galleries and restaurants sit side by side with great architecture and landscaping with a Christmas Winter Wonderland for both children and adults – everything works in tangent to build a collective experience proven to be what our customers today yearn for.
Liverpool One … an Evolution for Retail?
Without doubt, Liverpool One did reinvent retail for Liverpool and regenerated the ailing city centre and retailer’s of all sizes can probably learn something from.
By focusing on delivering exceptional experience and convenience that Liverpool One delivers, we can all improve on giving our customers what they want. The high street is certainly not dead but it is a case of survival of the fittest.
As customer services Guru, Kate Hardcastle (head of respected retail consultancy, Insight With Passion) said, “It’s a story of simple truth. Those who hear the heartbeat of customers, understand their true needs and can react to them will survive. Those who’ve done what they have always done and haven’t evolved, will die”.
As we reach the end of 2016 and face 2017’s new challenges and objectives, we will no doubt see technology surge through into high street retail, witness colliding digital and physical retail worlds and converging traditional sectors.
What do we need to re-think and what can we learn from Liverpool One’s reinvented retail landscape?
7 things every retailer may want to be thinking about…
- Click and Collect/Reserve – can you be doing it better, faster and more efficiently?
- The instore experience – Does your physical space really create the right brand and product experiences to set you apart?
- Extended digital aisles – Can you help your customers whilst increasing your sales through offering products across your stock inventory for instore home delivery?
- Show rooming – Can you establish temporary or permanent show rooms in smaller spaces to sell “experience” with the convenience of digital aisles for order to home delivery?
- e-Reciepts – Can e-Receipts help your multi-channel customer services and promotion?
- Loyalty – How can you keep your customer loving you more, buying more and staying with you in today’s competitive multi-channel retail world?
- Does your retail management software system have what it takes to deliver the experience and convenience your customers crave?
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Rachel is passionate about retail and the ever-changing retail technology environment, with a keen eye for upcoming retail trends that are set to shake up the sector.
