Guess SS16 ad campaign

Modern retail is all about omnichannel but finding the sweet spot where the website helps drive traffic into stores and where the stores help drive shoppers online (all while increasing, rather than cannibalising, sales) is hard.

Now Guess is planning a tech assault designed to get those clickers through its physical store doors, in the US at least.

It’s the official launch partner for a start-up’s new service that aims to track what web browsers are looking for and offer it up in their local store.

The tech comes from Radisu8 and is a Cloud-based platform that can collect local data around what web browsers are searching. So if lots of people near a particular Guess store are searching for logo T-shirts, distressed boyfriend jeans or cropped biker jackets, the retailer can make sure it’s not only got those items in-store but is promoting them heavily in that local area.

It’s one way that the global phenomenon that is the internet can respond to local trends and how big data can be used to hone down a store’s offer to what specific customers want, rather than taking an everyone-gets-the-same approach.

Radius8 CEO and co-founder Sandeep Bhanote said the tech “will help make the retail store relevant again… to increase foot traffic, more effectively monetise local store inventory, and minimise the margin-eroding discounting and mark­down tactics widely employed today.”

We could ask why people would want to go to the store when they’re searching online but Bhanote also pointed out that less than 5% of online searches end up as sales. So converting web browsers to physical shoppers might be a more effective way of maximising online activity.

Guess will roll out the tech this summer with web users seeing dialogue boxes popping up as they search online telling them what their nearest (Guess) store has in stock and allowing them to email and reserve the items.

There are 1,640 Guess stores but only a few will be testing this tech. Can’t wait to see the results.