Archiwum kategorii: Omnichannel

Foreign expansion of Vistula with i-systems

Vistula brand begins to develop online sales on foreign markets. Together with i-systems, a new version of the brand’s e-commerce system has been prepared. The Vistula online store is now available in English and Czech, thus favouring the development of cross-border sales.

After the implementation of the online store on the domestic market, Vistula decided on further development of the services and to match its online offer to the foreign customers. In addition to the English version, which is adapted to a wide range of recipients abroad, the brand’s actions were also directed slightly to the South. The result is the launch of the store in the Czech language. The system currently supports deliveries to the customers from 25 countries.

New language versions of the store are not everything. Each of them has the equivalents of existing banners and graphics from the Polish-language store. Currency versions have also been designed to ensure automatic price recalculation. For the English version, the default currency is the euro. The Czech edition of the store, on the other hand, offers prices in Czech koruna. Prices in those currencies are visible after selecting the appropriate language version.

New language versions are a step towards expanding sales to the European market – says Aneta Kazanowska, Director of Online Stores at Vistula Group S.A. – Proper implementation of cross-border sales is possible when all processes related to online transactions are automated and ensure the free flow of information about orders. Therefore, it was necessary to integrate the system with the warehouse and accounting environment, logistics processes and discount policy – adds Aneta Kazanowska.

All above-mentioned solutions are matched to the appropriate language and currency versions, in order to efficiently process orders from English and Czech websites.

New language versions of the Vistula store are available here: evistula.cz and vistula.eu

Solutions for online stores Omnichannel solutions

Mobile app in the omnichannel model

During the last couple of years the shopping process, as well as shopping triggers have changed. The customers often use a mobile device for shopping or searching for products. They expect to be in constant touch with the brand and consistent experience through multiple sales channels. A mobile app integrated with e-commerce system becomes an important channel. In this article, we present selected features of the mobile app taking as an example R-GOL.com – the store for football lovers in Poland.

Customers open push notifications more often

Push notifications are the messages sent via mobile app to the customers’ devices. Around 80% of target receivers open push notifications. This is because the solution is an answer to the current needs of the customers, who like to be in the uninterrupted contact with the brand. If the customer downloaded the mobile app from App Store or Google Play, it means that he or she would like to be able to check the offer of the brand at any time. They are also interested in company’s business.

The administrator can decide what kind of content he or she would like to send and choose the target group. Everything via e-commerce system. This solution makes it easy to inform the customer about the change of order status or to send a defined group of users a message about the additional discount or interesting form of sale.

Push notifications can be also helpful in decreasing the number of abandoned carts. The administrator, through e-commerce system, can receive the database of persons that have given up the purchase, and with push notifications send them an invitation to re-check the offer.

Check online and buy offline

It’s not rare that the customers prefer to find the product online before making a decision to buy one. Therefore, they can check its parameters or opinions of other users. Next, they finalize the purchase at the salon of the brand. This process is called the ROPO effect.

By connecting warehousing for online and offline stores, there is a possibility for customers to check the product availability in the particular salon through the mobile app. It is a very comfortable solution because they are sure that the goods they are interested in are available in the chosen traditional store.

See offline and buy online

The mobile app, equipped with a barcode scanner, is a solution which efficiently connects traditional and online sales. This feature is especially helpful in a situation when there are no desired sizes available or when a customer wants to know the additional parameters of the product. After scanning the barcode, the mobile app will display a product tab in the online store. The customer can read the detailed description of the product or make a purchase in online store of the brand. Mobile app for e-commerce system, along with the barcode scanner, is an effective solution for sales support.

Click&collect service in the mobile app

Click&collect service enables shopping through the online store and collecting the order in the chosen localization. Typically, the places where customers can pick up products are the brand’s traditional stores.

Implementation of the click&collect functionality requires a particular software and coherent warehouse management for online and offline. For the customers, it is a comfortable form of shipping. He or she can collect the product at a convenient time. The click&collect service can be an efficient way to increase sales, as the customer, while picking up the order, very often makes an additional purchase.

Consistent data in multiple sales channels

When making a decision to implement the mobile app one should remember about the integration with e-commerce system. Hence, all data about product availability, prices, methods of payments and delivery will be the same as in online store. Moreover, if anything changes in the e-commerce system, it will be automatically updated in the mobile app with no necessity to send those changes to App Store and Google Play. Mobile App integrated with the online store, with the features that enable development of the omnichannel model, is the answer to the demands of the customers and a way to efficiently build a bond with the customer.

I want to read about other features of the R-GOL’s mobile app

Mobile app for sports brand

The mobile application for an online store is a way to build constant interaction with the customer. Hence, the brand has its own place in the user’s phone. Dedicated mobile application for R-GOL.com was created by i-systems.

Multi-channel sales network of R-GOL.com

R-GOL.com has the largest professional football shop in Poland. Four brick-and-mortar stores are located in Ostróda, Gdańsk, Olsztyn and Warsaw. The last of these points of sale is the largest in Europe and the second largest in the entire old continent store with products for football lovers. R-GOL.com also sales online through an online store addressed to retail customers, a store for wholesale customers and a professional store addressed to players appearing in the top league, first and second league. Support for online sales takes place in one place, as part of a multi-store. The next stage of business development was a mobile application for the R-GOL.com online store.

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Intuitive navigation and full data consistency

The mobile application implemented for R-GOL.com has been fully adapted to the overall visual identity of the brand. It has been created for two operating systems – iOS and Android. The R-GOL.com mobile application allows you to log in in several ways: traditionally, by entering a login and password, through an individual Facebook profile or Google account, and by Touch ID. After logging in to the application, a home page that has been tailored to the needs of the brand is displayed. On the home page, there are category banners and particular sub-categories. The e-commerce system administrator can configure the design of the mobile app home page himself, being able to enter any number of sub-categories.

From the level of the home page, the user of the mobile application may go to the menu which includes among others a list of favourite products or the history of completed orders. The new sales channel implemented for R-GOL.com is fully integrated with the e-commerce system. Therefore, information on the product availability, prices, payment and delivery methods are exactly the same as in the case of the online store of the brand. The integration has also enabled the identification of application users and those who don’t have this solution on their mobile device yet. With customer segmentation, it is possible to personalize the offer for a given group of company’s customers.

Efficient product search

R-GOL.com has a wide range of products. The offer includes over 4000 products of the world’s most famous footwear and sportswear brands. The company is also a producer of sports equipment, signed with the RG brand. The R-GOL.com online store has filters that help you find the product much quicker. Exactly the same filters are also applied in the new mobile application. Users can select products by size, brand, colour, purpose etc. The application has also been equipped with an advanced search engine that allows finding a specific product, even after entering the name without Polish characters or with a typo.

Push notifications – direct contact with the customer

The mobile application allows the administrator to send push notifications. The solution, on the one hand, allows sending personalized content, for instance, change of order status to a specific group, on the other hand – it is an effective way to provide information about the sale or an additional discount.

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In response to the ROPO effect

The R-GOL.com mobile application has also been equipped with a barcode scanner. This is a useful solution in a situation where the customer is checking the product offline but prefers to buy it online. After scanning the barcode, the mobile application displays the product card to the user in the online store of the brand.

Customers who, on the other hand, prefer to find a product online, but finalize the transaction offline, can check if the product is available in R-GOL.com brick-and-mortar store using the mobile app. They can also use the map that will help them easily find the offline store.

– We want our brand’s fans to get acquainted with the R-GOL.com offer in a convenient place and time. The mobile application for the online store R-GOL.com entirely meets the expectations of today’s customers. Thanks to the full integration of the mobile application with the e-commerce system, different sales channels have consistent and always up-to-date data. In addition, the mobile application has been equipped with solutions that effectively support the development of the omnichannel strategy we have adopted – says Tomasz Naruniec, e-commerce Manager at R-GOL.com

Plans for further development

R-GOL.com sales both through offline and online stores. Together with i-systems, it introduced another sales channel – a dedicated mobile application integrated with the e-commerce system. As part of the development of the omnichannel strategy, R-GOL.com plans further work, for instance, introducing beacons.

Get R-GOL.com mobile app here:

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Read R-GOL.com e-commerce case study

Be ready for heavy traffic on Black Friday – run the performance tests of the e-commerce system

Seasonal sales, Black Friday, or just increased traffic in the online store. If you don’t have enough server resources, the sale, which was supposed to bring profits – will come to naught. This is because every sales system has a different need for server resources. At the moment when there are not enough resources, access to the store may be difficult for customers. However, we have a solution for this problem.

Performance tests, also known as load tests, check the performance of a given sales system. In other words, they let you determine what is the store’s endurance for a particular traffic. Such statistics are created on the basis of the number of client requests per minute.

Process

The owner of the sales system can monitor the amount of current server resources in his panel. When it is necessary to investigate whether they will be sufficient in the expected period of increased traffic, i-systems testers prepare appropriate performance tests in which they imitate the exemplary way of how a potential customer navigates the site. Such action can be entering the home page, listing of products or categories, or adding products to the cart. This applies to both logged-in and non-logged users. Performance tests can be carried out on an unlimited number of requests.

Relic - the number of requests per minute

Relic – the number of requests per minute

Load tests are performed automatically, and server security is constantly monitored. After testing, the JMeter tool generates a report in a CSV file with a summary. The file contains the type of request and codes specifying the correctness or error in the operation of the system. The tester checks and analyzes the report based on Relic – a tool for traffic diagnostics, and adds his comments. Then, the administrator suggests the amount of resources necessary for the proper functioning of the store. If the demand for resources is much larger than expected, a wider interference in the cloud infrastructure is necessary. The report is passed on to the i-systems customer, who decides if he wants to increase the amount of resources.

Benefits

At the time of rapid business development and the growing number of requests, it is worth monitoring resources and protecting against possible difficulties in accessing the sales system. Thanks to traffic diagnostics on the website, clear information about the recommended amount of server resources is obtained, allowing you to deal with large traffic on the website. After a period of increased traffic, there is a possibility to return to the previous state or decide to make changes permanently. With the right amount of resources, the owner can be sure that his online store will be available, for instance during seasonal sales or sales peaks.



See solutions for brands

Vistula Group S.A. and W.KRUK S.A. with a new e-commerce system created by i-systems

Vistula Group S.A. is a company listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. It specializes in the design, manufacture and distribution of men’s and women’s clothing. Due to the dynamic development, Vistula Group S.A. successively develops its e-commerce activities. Cooperation with i-systems has resulted in new dedicated sales platforms for Vistula and Wólczanka. The project also included implementation of a new e-commerce system for W.KRUK, the oldest jewelry brand in Poland, managed directly by W.KRUK S.A. – a part of the Vistula Group S.A. Capital Group. The i-systems company is responsible for all technological works.

Business analysis

The scale of the project and its level of advancement made it necessary to start work from business analysis. This particular type of examination of the current IT architecture has identified key processes, actors, and areas for the company. It also determined points which are worth to develop in order to achieve even better business results. The result was a document that laid the foundation for the implementation of all three systems. This stage took i-systems analysts team a month of work.

– The analysis showed the possibilities of the new system and defined a preliminary work schedule. At the same time it was flexible enough to correct a plan, for example by adding new options at the stage of implementation. It is important to stay open for new options during such large implementations – says Aneta Kazanowska, e-commerce Manager at Vistula Group S.A.


Effective implementation process

Development works started immediately after the business analysis stage. A team dedicated to the project was created, which included people responsible for each area (analysis, UX, frontend, price policy, integration, import, omnichannel solutions, etc.). The number of the team members was flexible throughout the whole process. All the design and implementation works for three brands were made in less than three months and ended according to the schedule. The new system for the company was launched in three stages. The first online store to be launched was Wólczanka, then Vistula, and the last one was e-commerce system for W.KRUK.

– It is one of the largest e-commerce implementations in Poland, which took such a small amount of time. It is worth appreciating the involvement of the customer’s team in the project – comments Marek Pawlak, Project Manager at i-systems.

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Omnichannel solutions

The Vistula Group has a rapidly growing network of stationary stores. It currently has 370 showrooms, with a total sales area of 30.9 thousand sqm. (including 118 Vistula stores, 116 Wólczanka stores). W.KRUK jewelry chain has 106 boutiques. Therefore, the implementation of multichannel solutions was immediately taken into account. These are for instance: the ability to check online the availability of products in the store, the ability to order home delivery products while shopping at a stationary store, a consistent customer loyalty program – regardless of the place of purchase, or advanced inventory management.

New systems in the long-term perspective

Immediately after the launch of the e-commerce system, the Vistula Group, W.KRUK and i-systems signed agreements for further development. The agreements cover Service Level Agreement, dedicated cloud infrastructure, and post-implementation support.

– The first stage of the new version of e-commerce system in W.KRUK is already behind us. Now it is time for the development of the systems. We have a lot of interesting ideas, which we plan to enforce – comments Bartłomiej Twardosz, e-commerce Manager at W. KRUK. 


More details about the implementation will be described in the nearest future in the form of a case study.

New version of the mobile app

The i-systems mobile team has recently been actively working on the new capabilities of the mobile application, developed at the end of 2016. The result of the work is the next version of the application, with new solutions.

Focusing on positive customer experience

Taking care of the positive experience of the app users, the navigation has been changed, adapting it to the Material Design and iOS practices. The login screen and shopping cart have been rebuilt. In addition, the new version of the mobile application allows the customer to log in four ways, because two more options are now available – Google Account and Touch ID.

After logging into the application, a completely new form of the home page is displayed. The sales system administrator configures this view directly from the online store. The page can be tailored to the individual needs of the brand, including: title, description, photo, order, product link, flag or category. New settings appear immediately in the mobile app.

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Functionalities that support sales

In the new version of the mobile application, a bar code scanner was launched. This solution can enhance omnichannel actions. Its usefulness is shown in an example below:

A customer in a brick-and-mortar store cannot find an appropriate size of the product. What he needs is only to scan a barcode on the article and he will be redirected to this product in the online store. Therefore he will be able to check if the product of the right size is available online and make a purchase.

Mobile app has been integrated with Ionic Cloud. It made it possible to add push notification function. By push notifications, an administrator of the online store can easily send information about a sale, additional discount, order accepted for execution or waiting for execution, as well as change in a shipment status. According to research, push notifications are opened by around 90% of mobile users.

Integration has also enabled Live Updates. The solution allows quick update of data in mobile app. Once a change is made to the sales system, for example: a new sale is added, it will also appear in the app. This is possible, because once launched, the application registers itself in the data cloud and checks for new versions. This is another element that provides consistency of data in the online store and in the mobile app.

Mobile app integrated with e-commerce system

The e-commerce systems, created in responsive web design, are standard today. Online store with matching layout to mobile devices is a kind of must have in online sales. However, modern customer is demanding and needs more and more efficient forms of online shopping. A mobile app, integrated with online store of the brand, meets the demands of today’s consumers.

Previously, problems with updates were a nuisance for the companies, which made mobile apps available for their customers. Therefore, very often application did not show the actual state, it was not integrated with e-commerce system, so it became outdated. In the case of mobile app, created by i-systems, all the information is collected au courant form the online store of the brand, hence inventory or discount data are always valid.

The advantage of the mobile app over RWD

First of all, mobile application is an additional sales channel, which increases the number of mobile customers, thanks to the possibility of efficient and convenient shopping.  In comparison to the online store, adjusted to mobile devices, mobile application has a lot of advantages. There is no need for the users to login to the online store each time, and thanks to push notifications he or she receives information about the latest discounts through the application. Research shows that up to 58% of mobile customers would prefer to use mobile app if there was such a possibility, generating at the same time 3.7 times higher conversion rates.

Meeting business needs

While creating a mobile app, dedicated to a particular brand, it is important to become familiar with the objects and business processes, which will allow to adapt the application to the needs of consumers. Department of analysis at i-systems prepared thorough workbook that describes the particular elements of the mobile application.

SIPOC diagram - “Account management” business process

SIPOC diagram – “Account management” business process

Workbook indicates business actors – logged in and logged out customers and the store’s admin, who manages settings in mobile app. It also indicates 5 key business processes. The main processes include: account registration, login, account management, product search and order registration. Characteristics of business processes has been developed on the basis of prepared SIPOC diagrams, which are a tools for description of suppliers, inputs, process, outputs and customers.

For each process the main goal and specific scenarios have been described. Example: account registration of the retail customer is a basic scenario, whereas the possibility of introducing corporate data for business customer is a detailed scenario. In each process business objects were created – 18 for the current version of the mobile application. Each business object has a name, a special designation, type – that is the division into a standard object, which is in each version of the application, or special one. For business objects a brief description was created, as well as attributes, meaning the scope of information which are possible to assign to the given object, such as: name, surname, e-mail, phone number, password, shipping address, invoice data etc.

Building mobile app

Performing an accurate description of the processes and business objects occurring in the mobile application is the first step of its creation. If a company, which already has the e-commerce system, is interested in mobile application, it places an order and i-systems employees begin work on recognizing business needs and fitting actors, objects and processes to them.

Mobile app, built by i-systems, is available for iOS and Android. Two versions of the mobile app have to be prepared for those systems. In addition, each company selling online, wants the application to be consistent with the visual identity of the online store, which is why it has to be personalized each time, so as the template, colors and icons harmonized with online store of the brand. Functions are matched to the individual needs of the company. Next the application is integrated with e-commerce system, and payments are configured from online store level. After building the mobile app, based on business needs of the company and adapted to its e-commerce system, i-systems team submits the application to the App Store and Google Play. Therefore i-systems customers can have their own dedicated applications, ready to be shared with their target customers.

The information about the mobile app can be published on the online store. After clicking the icon, App Store or Google Play is displayed, where the user can download the app.

The main functionalities of the mobile app

There are several ways of logging in to the mobile app built by i-systems. It can be done in a traditional way – by entering e-mail address and the password obtained while placing an order in online store. While entering data, one obtains a token, so that later the user could log in the application, without the need to re-enter personal details. Another form is log in by individual Facebook profile.

After starting the mobile app, a potential customer will see two banners, showing new and recommended products. Next version will be extended, so as the admin of the store could create the home page by his own by choosing the categories he would like to place there. There would be also more than two categories to be chosen.

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Application integrated with e-commerce system does not have to be manually updated along with every change in the online store. Updating e-commerce system does not mean having new version of mobile app. Moreover, building application by the same company that implemented e-commerce system, allows to develop and modernize application, so as it was always updated and met customers’ needs.

The customer can also sort products according to the newest, cheapest or the most expensive. He or she can also add product to favourites, in order to get back to them in time. While opening the product sheet, the user will see exactly the same information as in online store of the brand. Also, below product data, recommended products can be found.

An interesting feature of the mobile application are filters, built automatically for the category and the flag. The mobile application has exactly the same filters as e-commerce system. Filters are built dynamically, so if something changes in the online store will also be updated in the application. There is no need to enter new data manually and submit an app to the App Store or Google Play once again.
Shopping by mobile app is exactly the same process as in the case of online store. There is a possibility to find product by using the search engine based on SOLR, add product to cart, use a discount coupon, modify delivery data and select the payment method. Each purchase is shown in the „orders” tab.

Prospects for development of mobile application

Mobile application, built by i-systems, is most of all a new sales channel, allowing more efficient and safer shopping. Application integrated with online store will be developed and updated according to individual needs of the brand. Currently, it is adapted to the latest version of e-commerce system.

In the nearest future, it will be possible to login with touch ID, as well as pay by credit card. The development also covers work on implementation of push notifications, which are alerts about discounts and sales. The administrator of the store will be able to create discount offer in e-commerce system, and the user will receive it directly on mobile app. It is extremely interesting form of reaching the customer, because only 10% of customers open e-mails, while 90% of them open push notifications. Beacons will be another novelty. They will allow to strengthen omnichannel actions, connected with the use of mobile app. Beacons are devices which allow communication with smartphones or tablets. The customer while walking past brick and mortar sales point of the given brand, in which the beacon has been mounted, will receive notification about discounts or interesting offers of the store.

There are not many e-commerce companies which build mobile apps, as the separate mobile department has to be created. If the company does not have such a department, it has to subcontract building an app to other company. In such cases it is very common that problems with integration arise and application cannot be updated. There is a risk that the product range would not be actual, and the product purchased via mobile app would not be available. Beside the problems with data exchange, there is also an issue of costs, which are much higher than in the case of building mobile app by the company which implements e-commerce systems.

The online store, created by i-systems, which is integrated with ERP system and mobile app is a efficient and safe sales model.

New Balance has launched a new online outlet

For the Polish representative of New Balance, 2016 is the time of rapid online and offline development. At the end of the year, brand has plans to open forty stationary stores and run next Street Style points, they also implemented StreetStyle24.pl online store. 2016 is also a year when New Balance Poland received an award for effective social media actions. The award has been granted during the international meeting of all New Balance representatives in Atlanta.

But this is not the end of the progress – New Balance has recently opened online outlet, thanks to which the lovers of the shoes with a characteristic “N” letter can shop with additional discount. Online outlet is consistent with the overall visual identity of the brand. Product sheets include full size tables and panoramic photos.

New Balance footwear is characterized by innovative technology. That is why, there is also  an information about applied solutions. Data can be presented in three ways: in the form of written description, infographic or short movie. The implementation of the new online outlet is the next step in cooperation between New Balance Poland and i-systems in e-commerce field.

Online outlet is available here: nboutlet.pl

The new eCommerce system in 5.10.15.

A new shop for Komex is already online. Komex, the owner of a stationary shop chain 5.10.15., is one of Poland’s biggest retail sales chains. It currently owns over 230 stationary shops, where it sells children’s clothing and accessories. The cooperation with i-systems is aimed at enhancing the use of online sale potential.

Changes in the shop

The new online shop means not only a new image and a wider offer, but also many new options for customers: they can now preview the available sizes on product lists as well as use enriched search and filtering options. Moreover, a full mechanism of promotion combined with a refreshed loyalty program was created. More efficient system integration allows for faster delivery of orders to customers. Thus, the majority of packages is sent on the day of placing the order and delivered the next day.

Mobile consumers set the standards

The entire eCommerce system was prepared according to the best standards of Responsive Web Design. The new online shop of 5.10.15. automatically adjusts to the resolution of the screen on which it is viewed. All the development works concerning the full mobility of the online shop were carried out according to the Mobile First rule, which means that the shop layout on the smallest devices was prepared first and then the workspace was widened. Shop implementation also followed that rule. Thus, shopping on mobile devices is now much simpler.

eCommerce is the fastest developing sales channel. The reasons are obvious: it is comfortable and saves time as well as, oftentimes, money. Young generations, which grew up with computers, tablets and smartphones, are becoming parents today and eagerly choose that kind of shopping. Thus, we treat eCommerce as a promising sales channel and mobile shopping as its strong basis. The entire eCommerce will soon be very mobile; it will intermingle with traditional shopping, the ROPO effect will increase and… the market will become crowded. That is why we are preparing for it as early as today” said Tomasz Sulejewski, eCommerce Manager in Komex.

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Dedicated eCommerce integrations

Large stationary sales chains such as Komex act on the basis of precisely defined business processes. Their skillful transfer to eCommerce and subsequent optimization is very important. One of the key implementation elements was the creation of dedicated integrations affecting the sales system. The 5.10.15. brand has several affiliate partners within the sales network. Thus, we prepared a module allowing for launching the integration with affiliate networks and flexible management of parameters for each network” highlighted Marek Pawlak, Project Manager in i-systems.

The system also offers advanced integration with ERP. The integration is responsible for product and promotion management plus sales reporting. Its detailed functions include communication with the ERP system and updating the products and their prices; it also regularly sends to the ERP system the information about completed orders and trade documents issued in connection with them.

SAP logistic outsourcing solutions were also implemented, via integration with a Partner, in the new online shop at http://www.51015kids.eu/. This allows one to control the handling of the whole order.

Omnichannel retailing challenges

The scale of the undertaking presented by the new eCommerce system for the 5.10.15. brand made it necessary to divide the works into several stages. The first step in combining online and stationary sales was the possibility of checking the locations of all stationary shops belonging to the brand in Poland. Then, the loyalty program was unified in all channels: now it is coherent both online and offline. The next functions taking advantage of the multichannel idea will be implemented systematically as part of an adopted action plan.

“The platform constructed by i-systems based on modern standards is a prelude to further cooperation and the beginning of implementing the omnichannel strategy in full, since we are currently working on the latter,” claims Sebastian Moleda, Operations Director in Komex.

The implemented platform can be viewed online at http://www.51015kids.eu/.

The time of eApocalypse – the influence OmniChannel exerts on the future of commerce

We are witnessing big changes. Following the events of the last decade on the eCommerce market and putting it together with the current situation in traditional commerce, it is difficult not to resist of impression that big changes are coming.
The market of shopping centres in Poland will soon reach the boundaries of dynamic growth. In 2015 the first noticeable decline in the so-called footfall appeared, which means that particular stores are visited by a smaller number of potential customers. Such situation enforced, in some cases, changing the strategy and renegotiating some of the lease contracts. And this is only the beginning.

An online store that supports traditional sales is a standard for each sales chain

In the chains that thought about it well in advance we can see that as standard about 5% of the whole turnover of the store is generated by an online store. There are also companies that from the very beginning treat the Internet as the main source of their activities and now have the results of 10% to even 20% of turnover online.

It often happens that a single online store may generate the turnover of a few good brick and mortar stores, with less expense. This results in resignations from some of less profitable points, which can in turn result in vacant places in shopping centres that have to be managed somehow. The so-called pop-up stores may turn out to be the hope for such places; these are the stores that appear in a given area for promotional purposes, for a specified time, and then disappear. This strategy is particular favourable to online stores. A well-established image, among customers, may hold their attention and arise their interest in the offer of an online store. We could observe such strategy in Złote Tarasy in Warsaw where Zalando presented its pop-up store. The opening of a temporary store was preceded by a series of events like giving Blogger Award awards and a series of DIY workshops.

The best results may be expected by the companies which backs sustainable development consistent with the OmniChannel strategy

A well-managed online store additionally drives traffic in brick and mortar stores, among other things by free collection points, the possibility of checking the stock levels, reservations, returns, claims etc. The example may be the Polish project Answear.com which intensified the opening of an online store in 2011 by opening two brick and mortar stores in Kielce and Poznań, offering a part of the functionalities mentioned.

And here another challenge appears: how to settle with the ingoing customers that come to sales chains only to collect the product bought earlier at the online store. This is the situation in which the store is forced to pay double for the customer. The first time at the online store. The second time, when it has to pay the owner of the shopping centre for the fact that the customer has come to collect the parcel bought, thus increasing the footfall and turnover of the store on which the rent is calculated. There are several ways to solve this problem and in each of them the software may play the key role.

commerceRSR2015 Commerce Convergence RSR

More and more actively the companies of the so-called pure internet join the game for the offline customer

These are the companies that grew based on the technology, they have been keeping online stores for a long time and more and more often they think about not the single point of sale but about the whole chain, thus fulfilling the OmniChannel strategy.

Only now in Poland we can observe the single examples of opening brick and mortar stores by companies which are typically online in their nature, and such trend will be more and more stronger over time. Their unquestionable advantage is that they usually already have a well-developed system in which they are constantly investing and know its possibilities. For them, adding subsequent functionalities and increasing the number of free collection points, having selected a well-organised team of specialists, may take little time. These are, despite everything, the companies that we heard relatively not much of in Poland but their capital and trend towards OmniChannel customer, that are constantly growing, rouse appetite for investment in physical points of sale.

The example of such kind of actions may be the Chinese giant Alibaba who in 2014 bought, after years of dynamic expansion in a global chain, the block of 220.5 mln shares of Intime Retail Group (IRG; the owner of department stores and superstores) for approx. USD 219 mln. In 2015 it bought 19.99% of shares of Suning – one of the biggest chain of stores with electronic equipment in the country (for approx. EUR 4.15 mln). This is a simple way for natural competitors to establish cooperation, which will after all be advantageous for both companies. Suning will get the opportunity of starting online sales fast, among other things by creating an online store, on Alibaba website, designed for commercial partners – Tmall. Alibaba, however, will be able to use Suning infrastructure to store and deliver the goods sold at the platform in OmniChannel model.

CCC brand applied a similar strategy. One of the biggest chain of stores with shoes bought 75% of shares of Eobuwie.pl – a company from Zielona Góra. Although the average shopping basket in both cases differ significantly, both entities gained a natural complement to their offers. Eobuwie may offer brick and mortar free collection points, which in turn, as a natural consequence, will increase traffic in CCC stores and may translate into increased sales.

Online and offline commercial companies are looking more and more intensely for the possibility to get through to the end customer, from different places, thus diversifying the sales and fulfilling the OmniChannel strategy

This may take place in the form of acquisition, merger, like in the case of Alibaba and CCC, or the attempt to create one’s own dedicated solutions, like Answear.com did. We should, however, bear in mind that such programming-related solutions does not come into existence immediately. The era of fast and easy entry into online sales has come to an end. A good system of sale that implements the strategy of sales chain and meets the requirements of OmniChannel customers needs a few months and time for tests and stabilisation. Before the actual works can start, one has to draw up an analysis, deal with all legal matters and create system specification.

The changes in commerce are quicker and quicker. Postponing the key decisions on investment in OmniChannel even longer is disadvantageous and increases the costs of implementation and acquiring a potential customer via Internet.