New strategies across multiple channels in retail are emerging at the speed of light. What is clear however, with all the technology innovation and applications to support retail and
e tail, a critical ingredient for success is the people to people interface.

Retailers with a multi channel strategy are now realizing that customer interaction at the retail level is an important part of retail. It’s not necessarily about ordering on-line and delivery to home without wasting time stepping into the store. Shopping is an experience that for many is an enjoyable activity.

GAP realised this quite early when it introduced the order on-line but pick up in store strategy. In retail (including e-tail) people need people and shopping is too enjoyable to swap for an on-line romp or a bad in store experience. This is nothing new but it has taken some time until the online love affair had matured and in retail, customer service was recognized again as being important. Just look at the growth of retail outlets globally and the in store initiatives to make customers want to come back. Australian retailers need to invest in training staff to meet this customer expectation rather than assuming staff have an intuitive feel for customer management and sales .