By Blake Cronyn | July 26, 2017
The future of retail is an interesting topic. When cheaper product alternatives can be purchased online easier, faster and for less, why buy from a physical retail store or even big brands at all? In our opinion, there are three steps that big brands and physical retailers need to embrace in order to adapt to the changing environment of retail:
Step one, provide awesome experiences.
Step two, embrace a new sales model and salesperson, the Influencer (or micro-Influencer).
Step three, scale your remarkable experiences and Influencer sales model.
A company that is embracing these steps very effectively is Nike with their Nike Run Club and Nike+ Local Run initiatives. Let me explain how:
Step 1: Provide awesome experiences.
How do brands compete with cheaper product alternatives online? By forming strong bonds with their customers, providing value and delivering remarkable experiences. Physical stores shouldn’t sell products, they should provide experiences. Crazy, right? However, if we look at Nike Running Club (NRC) that is exactly what Nike is doing. NRC takes place out of various locations in major cities all around the world. The runs do not focus directly on Nike products nor do they sell products at their events. Instead, NRC is just awesome runs and an exchange of remarkable experiences, knowledge and value. However, surely the runners who come out to these events appreciate the value and reciprocate by purchasing Nike the next time they need a new pair of running shoes, even with cheaper alternatives available.
Step 2: Embrace a new salesperson, the Influencer.
Instead of traditional sales representatives in a physical store trying to “sell” products, running product experts, known as NRC Pacers, provide immense value to customers by running alongside them, helping them improve their athletic ability. NRC Pacers might not be “Influencers” in the sense of having thousands of followers on social media, but they are equally as effective. NRC Pacers spend time building rapport with their runners, week after week, while displaying the Nike brand in a positive light when they run. This seems like a supreme sales model when compared to the “unknown salesperson in a physical store.”
Step 3: Scale your remarkable experiences and sales model.
Imagine if Nike was able to deliver remarkable experiences from each of their retail locations. That would be an impressive feat! Now imagine if Nike was able to deliver remarkable experiences from absolutely ANYWHERE. This is the value of Nike+ Local Run (NLR). Currently, NRC runs take place out of only a small number of locations. What happens if these runs were able to take place all over an entire city, from any location? What happens if Nike could also go beyond NRC Pacers and recruit loyal customers to start running for them and representing the brand? That’s where NLR comes in. NLR or Nike+ Local Run is a feature within the NRC app that gives anyone the ability to create their own run route (by plotting points on a map, which outline and measure the distance of the run). These run routes can then be broadcast out to friends and other runners, essentially empowering a person to lead their own run club. With NLR you have a scalable solution for experiential retail and the Influencer sales model by allowing anyone to lead their own run club. I’d say that these value-adding experiences would be great for brand recognition, building loyal customers and sales.
It is safe to say that Nike is adapting to the future of retail better than many brands out there. NLR is the next step that enables the scalability of awesome experiences as well as this new breed of Influencer and salesperson.
At rBux, we believe in the premise that the future of physical retail will be experiential showrooms. We see it already happening with stores serving as a medium for brand awareness, experience and to catalyze online sales. Every day, more and more sales are coming from product experts and Influencers and this is fundamentally changing the sales model for brands and retailers. rBux is a platform that allows anyone to work with brands and get rewarded when their knowledge and social reach leads to product sales. We look at companies such as Nike and recognize that they adapting to experiential retail, the Influencer (or “micro-Influencer”) sales model and are trying to scale it by empowering users everywhere to run with their brand.
Check out Nike+ Local Run here if you are a runner looking to be empowered and lead your own run club https://web.nike.com/nike-local-run/
Get started today and sign up to be a member on rBux.com
