Phygital is born from the combination of the words physical and digital. It is the link that connects these two universes. The goal is to transfer the best aspects of the physical consumer experience to the digital world and vice versa.
At the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, this word gained a place in the marketplace since it compelled businesses to change the way they sell. People were forced to stay at home, accessing the rest of the world through electronic gadgets and having any store just a click away. As a result, more companies quickly adjusted their strategies to digitally accomplish tasks that had previously been accomplished in-person. This includes things like grocery shopping, using a mobile phone to look at a restaurant’s menu, paying for gas without having to touch a payment terminal, or using a connected device to monitor your health.
However, in an age where the digital world is so omni-present, it’s critical not to overlook the importance and presence that “physical” can provide, as well as its relevancy and brand engagement with customers offline.
PHYGITAL: STRATEGY OR A MOMENT?
According to several studies, consumers commonly blend brick-and-mortar and digital buying. For example, reading products’ reviews online before making well-informed purchases in a physical store or, touching and seeing things in a store before ordering them online.
Consumers themselves are Phygital, as they exist in both the physical and digital worlds. As a result, it makes sense for marketers and merchants to meet customers in between zones.
From a business point of view, the problem is harmonizing brand actions to reach different channels and provide the experience customers’ desire.
Assessing current customer experience is the first step in developing a phygital strategy. What can businesses do to improve the integration of physical and digital experiences? The idea is to build immersive encounters that customers find so simple that they reach quite a usefulness — it works so well that organizations don’t even need customer feedback.
PHYGITAL BEYOND OMNICHANNEL
Customers want their needs to be satisfied across all channels. With today’s technology, it’s no longer acceptable for consumers to be forced to perform a task on a specific channel.
Users grow frustrated when directed to an automated chat service while looking for a solution.
To put it another way, customers must be able to do what they want via any channel, whether physical or digital. Furthermore, this easy option improves the experience of the user as well as the agility and quality of the service.
Providing omnichannel services, whether online or offline, is critical for a phygital approach.
INNOVATION FOR USER EXPERIENCE THROUGH PHYGITAL
It’s vital to consider what sort of customer experience companies want their users to have if they want to succeed. Simply checking a box to indicate that you have a mobile app or website isn’t enough. To accommodate for the more prevalent phygital experience, businesses will have to optimize their digital and offline experiences.
For example, you won’t have a successful phygital experience if you create a mobile app for your convenience store and provide curbside pickup on fast meals but don’t adequately teach shop staff to use the program. Many five-star mobile applications have received a one-star rating because the out-of-app encounter did not match the in-app expectation, negatively impacting consumer happiness. Therefore, you don’t have a successful phygital experience aka a good customer experience.
EXAMPLES WHERE MARKETS ARE ALREADY PHYGITAL
If you look around the world, you will find that phygital is more common than you might think.
FOOD
Consider McDonald’s. What’s blocking your way to the checkout counter as you go into the restaurant? Digital kiosks. This is an excellent illustration of phygital in action. Even if a consumer is at a physical business, some prefer the ease and quickness of digital transactions.
The Amazon Go grocery shop is another phygital example, where customers just walk into a store, grab what they want and go. Every product is uploaded to their Amazon App immediately.
Another even simpler example is when you go to a restaurant and use a QR Code to see the menu.
RETAIL
The expanding trend of live video purchasing is one of the greatest online phygital examples.
This gives customers the impression that they are choosing things and visiting a physical shop, yet all they must do is click a button to buy what they want.
Shoppers at the fashion label Rebecca Minkoff may pick which things they wish to try on using touch displays strategically placed throughout the store. Then, when they’re ready, they’ll receive a text message with the fitting room number, where they’ll find all the products they ordered.
You may usually engage with a live host and ask questions, see specific goods in action and experience the thrill of online shopping.
BANKING INDUSTRY
When you walk into a brick-and-mortar bank, virtually all of them will have a digital kiosk (or ATM) to allow you digitally access account information.
Customers may opt to visit a physical site while still interacting with digital platforms. This offers the consumer the assurance that a real person is nearby to help if they have a problem.
On the other hand, you have digital banks where the main activity needs no human interaction but, when required, physical sites allow their clients to resolve all the necessary issues, with a perfect integration of a previous digital communication.
AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY
When shopping for a car, buyers want an authentic experience. Video is the closest tool companies can get to this without the customer being in the store.
Here’s why live video makes automobile shopping so much easier.
The customer can:
- talk to an automotive specialist face-to-face, which creates trust;
- view the car in real-time to alleviate any concerns about looks;
- ask questions without having to wait minutes or days for an answer.
Thanks to phygital components, the buyer can do all of this from the comfort of their own home.
REAL-ESTATE INDUSTRY
Offering a one-on-one video call option to website visitors who display a strong interest in a property is an excellent approach to getting phygital.
Once you’ve found a suitable target in a video conversation, you can establish trust and provide further information about the property unit they’re interested in, just like you would in person.
But phygital can go further in this industry as 360º video visits turned into the real deal. It allows potential clients to visit their future home without leaving their couch.
5 STEPS TO IMPLEMENT PHYGITAL
1. Pay attention to your omnichannel strategy
The consumer must be at the centre of the omnichannel strategy, so brands must offer a one-of-a-kind journey of excellence with a single goal in mind: to keep your audience interested.
This means companies must focus on a complete digital experience, while assuring the physical interaction lives up to the expectations.
2. Identify your phygital target
It is important to understand that the user not only searches and buys but also feels; consequently, two out of ten customers still prefer to complete their purchase in a physical store. Interpersonal contacts remain an essential and highly valued component for customers, meaning that the physical and emotional aspects of purchasing should always be present.
3. Promote actions that integrate the online and offline worlds
Regardless of the differences between these two worlds, physical and digital scenarios can benefit from creativity and strategy to support successful projects.
a. Promote qualitative experiences to bring the brand closer to the client;
b. Stimulate sales;
c. Expand customer relations.
4. Have technology as an ally
Smartphones, QR codes and artificial intelligence are examples of devices and technology that enhance the connection between the physical, the digital and the necessary immersion to keep your customer engaged in buying from you. This is only possible with an intelligent and strategic use of the technology we have at our disposal.
5. Provide unforgettable experiences
The quest for unique experiences will be one of the most prominent trends in the following years. A well-executed marketing action will amuse or surprise the customer, making them feel like a valuable part of the business.
People no longer buy just items or services. They look for sensations and experiences.
FINAL NOTES
Make use of a phygital strategy to integrate your customers’ online and offline experiences so they can travel between them quickly. More human interactions will improve their perception of the brand and boost their sentiment to the business and, as a result, sales.
Customers need connected experiences where physical and digital elements coexist in the same customer journey.
And who knows what’s the next step of Phygital?
With neurodigital implants around the corner, how it will be in the future with “the digital” literally as part of humans?
What are your thoughts about it?
Sources:
1. https://www.mjvinnovation.com/blog/what-is-phygital/
2. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2021/06/30/phygital---what-is-it-and-why-should-i-care/
3. https://www.giosg.com/blog/what-is-phygital
4. https://www.mobiquity.com/insights/the-future-is-phygital
5. https://www.wearemarketing.com/blog/whats-phygital-in-the-customer-experience.html
6. https://peertopeermarketing.co/phygital/
