Modernizing retail: Falabella delivers omnichannel experiences consistently
Sunil Aravindakshan, Director - Stores Modernization at Falabella and Virapandy Thulasimani, Retail SME at Thoughtworks talk about store modernization
In conversations centred on retail transformation, the dominant narrative is the growth of e-commerce. This narrative often overshadows the role of brick-and-mortar stores in the overall customer experience. According to McKinsey, senior executives of major North American retailers have confirmed that over the last two years, eCommerce sales grew in locations with physical stores as compared to those without – indicative of brand presence having a significant halo effect on eCommerce sales.
Infact, retailers who envision online and offline channels as symbiotic are more successful. And, it is this opportunity that Falabella, a leading Latin American retailer recognized and strategically leveraged over the past decade with investments in both digital tech and in-store. Falabella envisioned a future where stores and eCommerce are not merely channels of sales, but levers for growth. With 500+ stores across six countries and multiple lines of business, Falabella captures multiple data points that could help provide an even richer experience for its customers.
The global retailer wanted to build digital capabilities that would make customers' lives simpler and their shopping enjoyable. Such capabilities will become competitive differentiators in a crowded market. To achieve these digital goals, Falabella partnered with Thoughtworks, a leading global technology consultancy.
The journey of building a tech powerhouse is no mean task. Most retailers choose custom-off-the-shelf (COTS) products for their various needs. They create scattered capabilities through point solutions to individual problems and these products rarely offer holistic value. On the other hand, custom-building products for each use case is incredibly arduous. Thoughtworks and Falabella jointly opined (after leveraging years of experience in advancing tech maturity), that neither of the above described approaches would work for what was intended and gravitated towards platform thinking.
The recommended ‘platform approach’ would build foundational capabilities that enable scale, experimentation, speed and agility. It would leverage ecosystem assets to improve customer experience. Thoughtworks’ suggested digital platform strategy would pack the power of Falabella’s 100+ years of experience in serving millions of customers across Latin America, into its customer offerings.
Falabella and Thoughtworks built a digital retail backbone: not just for the retailer’s business goals of today but to also accelerate its presence in emerging touch points and operating models (like marketplaces) of the future – eventually opening up additional non-linear streams of revenue.
