RetailTune, Specialists in Drive to Store and Local Digital Marketing

We had the pleasure of interviewing Claudio Agazzi, who besides being the founder of RetailTune, owns a consulting firm in the field of digital strategy and web design, with a decade of experience in the sector.

runningmag.sport-press.it

Increasing foot traffic in stores, managing all the digital touchpoints of points of sale, and providing detailed, up-to-date information to the end customer. These are RetailTune's goals — a company that has become a point of reference for retailers across many sectors, from fashion to food to services, united by the same needs: bringing order to the various information they have about their points of sale, refining their geolocation and, above all, driving traffic in store.

RetailTune is a platform that centrally manages data about physical points of sale and organic, zero-cost drive-to-store campaigns; brands are able to oversee and manage all digital touchpoints and be found in the right place at the right time. Thanks to precise geolocation, RetailTune intercepts users in real time, engages them, and drives them toward the nearest point of sale, facilitating contact and dialogue between the store and the customer, offering a best-in-class purchase experience and service level — including booking and concierge services — both before and after they walk through the door of the physical store.

A company that positions itself as the ultimate expression of technological and strategic digital marketing innovation at the service of retailers. Innovation that today is also extending its consulting activities into the world of multi-brand stores, at a time when the wholesale sector is inevitably suffering from multiple sources of competition.

Among the companies that have chosen RetailTune, we should mention Pinko, Gaudì, Momoni, Attic&Barn, Oof Wear, Liu Jo, Dan John, NaturaSì, Gruppo Gabrielli, Altromercato, Nashi Argan, Thun, and SKY.

Can you tell us the main reason the fashion retail world chooses to collaborate with a company like RetailTune?

The fashion world is a very dynamic one that evolves quickly. Equally dynamic is the user journey in this sector, where today more than ever people demand immediate, personalized information. A user browsing a brand's products online gives us a very simple piece of information: they're dedicating part of their time to it; we have their attention.
And what must companies do at that exact moment: they need to know how to engage and how to pamper them. With RetailTune, also thanks to our experience as Digital Advisor for other fashion brands, we've developed the right tools to intercept these users in the right place at the right time and offer them an exclusive, tailor-made purchase experience.

In a communication system as complex and invasive as today's, what are the main tools a brand has to guide the end consumer in store?

The Drive to Store communication we manage is not aggressive or push-based; it doesn't disturb the user's browsing.
It's pull — communication designed to facilitate the user's browsing and search. One of the most important tools through which the user comes into contact with the brand is the corporate website, through which thousands of users interested in the products pass every day. Potential customers, who might complete a purchase online or offline, in a single-brand or multi-brand store. Having a tool that, at that moment, shows the nearest point of sale with that specific product available is a strategic element for Drive to Store. Not only that — offering the option to reserve it in store, or to be notified when a missing size/color becomes available again, makes the purchase experience even more engaging. The importance of Google My Business listings for each store should not be underestimated: if kept up-to-date and complete, with promotions and events, they can significantly help drive traffic in store. For social-addicted users, there are Facebook Locations — local pages, one for each store, linked to the parent page, containing each store's information such as hours, address, contacts, images, descriptions, and posts, which, if managed strategically, can help increase traffic at the point of sale. These tools are just some of the most important ones brands need to work on to communicate with users and leverage the potential of Local Digital Marketing.

Let's do an exercise — can you walk us through the precise mental steps, including common mistakes, that in your experience a customer goes through when they want to buy, say, a winter jacket from brand X. Where does RetailTune come in?

More than customer mistakes, it's brand mistakes that should set off an alarm bell. Customer behavior is increasingly variable and unpredictable, some do research online and then buy in physical stores, so-called "webrooming"; some do the opposite, researching offline and then buying online, so-called "showrooming"; and then there are those who buy online and pick up in store, so-called "BOPIS – Buy Online Pick Up In Store," which has been growing steadily over the past year. Within this context, brands need to know how to react quickly, and above all with awareness, to offer users a consistent purchase experience regardless of their preferred channel.

Are you also moving into the world of sport and sneaker retailers?

RetailTune is an extremely cross-sector solution, and we have clients from the most diverse industries: from fashion to large-scale retail, from services to cosmetics. We manage to offer tailor-made services for every client. We're building synergies between sales networks and brands, whether they're large retail chains or small stores. The goal is to help users find the product they're looking for in any nearby point of sale. We could call it a product finder. The goal is always the same: consumer satisfaction, letting them buy the product where they want, in their preferred way.

Can you explain in a single sentence what omnichannel means?

I want to give you a not-very-digital definition: open-mindedness, listening, and experimentation. Open-mindedness because for a long time, and still today, I see projects labeled multichannel that are actually still built on early-2000s thinking. A prime example: in-store kiosks. Listening, because as we said earlier, it's the consumer who decides where to buy. The brand has to listen, and above all be good at it. Experimentation, because in such a fast-moving world, the solution we came up with yesterday is already outdated. You have to keep your antennae up and make the most of everything technology offers.

You attend many conferences and Masters programs — how important is training?

Training is at the foundation of everything, which is why one of our goals is to build widespread culture — among students, industry professionals, and companies. Local digital marketing consists of a series of actions rooted in plain Aristotelian common sense; they're not that complicated to understand, but it's extremely difficult to overcome the barriers of convention. What has been done for years becomes an established routine, and you have to break the routine to introduce something different.
A difference that isn't always innovation — what I often tell my colleagues is that we're not creating anything new compared to the communication done at the start of the last century, when the sandwich-board man pointed to the promotion at the nearby store. We enjoy doing training: on October 22 and 23 we've organized a short course with 24 Ore Business School to talk about Drive to Store Strategies, and we'll cover some very hot topics — what Local Marketing is and the concepts of omnichannel.

Can you describe the store of the future for us?

I wouldn't talk about the store of the future, but the store of the present — made of people, products, technology, and above all capable of evolving to offer the customer the best service, the best care, the best experience, in short…the best story.