Let’S Get Phygital: M-Commerce As A Crusader For “Phygital” Retail

Abstract

In the digital era and technological advancements, m-commerce is providing new paradigms to m-service providers and users. One such technological sophistication is “phygital” retail. The term “phygital” is the integration of digital technology (digital) with the personal communications with the consumers (physical), thereby bridging the gap between the two. With the emergence of technology and explosive growth of internet users, m-commerce is becoming increasingly important to various businesses nowadays and is widely proclaimed as the “new service frontier.” The phygital experience is a key to enhance the physical experience with the digital experience. Smartphones being the key component of this strategy has resulted in the companies getting more engaged in physical tactics through the social media, thereby allowing the companies to leverage so that they can face the competition. The biggest challenge posed by phygital as a 146 paradigm is developing an understanding of how the companies can implement this strategy. However, the barriers have witnessed a decline as people of all the ages are engaging in the digital experiences. The globalization of markets has resulted in the shift in the consumers’ mindset for the retail behavior. They are more prone to observing and understanding the differences between offline and online world. The present consumers demand one experience that combines both the traditional and digital aspects. Thus, here the concept phygital comes into picture. Phygital marketing concept has the potential to provide a solution by combining the elements of a traditional sales promotion with the elements of digital brand activation in an integrated complex which is irresistible for consumer of the 21st century. The concept phygital is not only associated with the tastes and preferences of the consumers but is also related to the psychological effects in the interaction of modern marketing communication, perception of brand products and values, individual interpretation, and other allied services. It has been posited that phygital components can provide more personalized experiences to the customers and would further result in increased in-store visits, enhanced loyalty, value cocreation, customer engagement, greater share of wallets, and wider customer-based brand equity. The “always on” approach would facilitate the customer engagement by mapping the customers’ move and allow the companies to achieve the ultimate phygital success. The present chapter deals with the specific paradigms of phygital retail so as to get an insight into the issues and challenges for managing the cointegration of technology with the brick and mortar and also how this integration can facilitate leveraging the physical retail networks so as to offer better customer service. The proposed chapter envisages addressing comprehensively issues and challenges for implementing the phygital strategy. The chapter would address on the one hand, the relevance of phygital marketing in retail with respect to the current trends such that the effectiveness of the marketing firm can be enhanced. On the other hand, it also envisages that the global marketers should make every effort to overcome the challenges such as untrained in-store staff and lack of knowledge, which lead to broken mobile strategies, so as to endure increased linkage with their audiences.

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