The Experience of Online Shopping

A new era of e-commerce is dawning. The US behemoth Amazon has recently offered its customers the opportunity to interact directly with its staff, and pick up or change merchandise in a physical place. The Regalister app lets you create your own wish list by taking pictures of desired goods in brick and mortar stores to guide friends in the purchase of gifts. In the clothing and apparel industry, brands such as Patrizia Pepe and Adidas have integrated the concept of traditional shopping with the logic of online retail, equipping their stores with interactive totems that share multimedia content with consumers about the products on sale.

Rodrigo Cipriani Foresio, who graduated in Business Administration from Bocconi in 1985 with a Major in Retailing, and is currently Managing Director for Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece of the Alibaba Group, has been given the task to lead the expansion of the Chinese colossus in the Old World. He is one of the leading practitioners in this market, since its inception, thanks to a career built around online sales. Prior to joining Alibaba, he was working at Double Click, a pioneering web company that was acquired by Google. He was also CEO of Mediashopping.

"Today I design internationalization strategies for small and medium companies in Southern Europe which want to reach the Chinese market," says Cipriani. "The Chinese have learned to appreciate the quality of products and we offer ourselves as facilitators, by bringing their brands to connect, through e-commerce, with 407 million Chinese consumers who are active buyers."

From showrooming, where purchases are made in the store and finalized online, to webrooming, where objects are selected online and then bought at a physical point of sale, how is the industry changing?

Convergence, complementarity between the online and offline worlds is becoming more important. Today there is no longer rivalry between these two areas of sale, and we are witnessing a new phenomenon in which the virtual store and the mortar business are benefiting from each other. The online store enables the servicing of niches that the offline store cannot cover, as well as supplying companies with data on consumers and their buying habits, but should always provide great service first, such as allowing consumers to return products freely and be refunded with great ease. It is from this point that the concept of reverse e-commerce emerges: the physical point of sale adds value because it contributes to a process of simplification.

What are the advantages of online shopping compared to offline shopping?

Surely, assortment is one of the strengths of online stores, as they can offer an infinite stock of goods to meet any consumer requirement. And speed. Online purchases are growing exponentially, particularly those made via smartphones. In China, for example, 60% of online sales are mobile purchases by young people by tapping on their screens. To hit the market effectively, you have to consider platforms that have compatible interfaces with smartphones.

What do affiliated physical stores bring to e-commerce?

A stronger shopping experience. Many luxury groups offer an in-store exclusive shopping experience that complement the online proposition, and helps define a customized service, designed to meet every desire of purchase by consumers. In these synergies, sales people are the real protagonists of a revolution in which the personal relationship is key.

According to the Total Retail Survey 2015 conducted by PwC, 63% of Italian consumers said that social media influence their purchasing decisions. How do you explain this phenomenon?

Social media are very important because they have become part of people's lives. The comments and ratings determine the reliability of a sales platform in terms of the quality of products, and also of service. So platforms use these channels to promote products, building relationships with consumers and stimulate shopping desires.

Are we talking about digital marketing?

Yes, it is very important to respond to consumer comments and establish a friendly relationship with users. The interaction with customers keeps growing and growing, can even bridge certain relational distances. Consumers are very demanding and seek a relationship of trust with a sales network, even if they themselves are the first to be unfaithful: if you do not give efficient service and competitive prices, users very quickly turn to another e-commerce platform. In the physical store or in the virtual store, users must always be able to count on someone who meets their needs.

So the mortar business can implement its own characteristics with e-commerce tools?

Of course, even if there can be structural limits. In Italy, for example, broadband is not yet available throughout the national territory, or it is not efficient. Also, not all stores are equipped with wi-fi networks that are a necessary condition to attain total fusion between online and offline retailing.