Deloitte And MashUp Get In Bed Together To Shake Up Aussie Retail
We’re all for formidable couplings here so it warms the cockles of our black hearts to announce that Deloitte Digital has joined forces with customer experience consultancy MashUp.
With the ink barely dry on the contract, B&T sat down with MashUp’s owner and founder Robbie Robertson (pictured above) – who is now a Deloitte partner – general manager Karen Spear and Katherine Milesi, Deloitte’s head of customer practise NSW to see how they plan to change the future of Australian retail.
“One of the things we’re seeing as an amazing opportunity is the uptake of digital,” said Robertson, “particularly within social and mobile activities, and apps and new technology coming through. We’re early adopters here in Australia and that’s having a massive impact on what we actually do within the high street, and what it’s going to look like in the future. We’re poised to become world leaders and change the shopping experience and I think retail is going to go through a metamorphosis in the next five to 10 years.”
Milesi said that after working on an assignment with Robertson a few years ago where he was the spatial designer, she realised it’s now not optional but mandatory for companies to think about the fusion of physical and digital.
“And that’s from a consumer perspective, a workplace perspective, a citizen perspective,” she said, “because the customer experience transcends one channel. Deloitte Digital is focused and specialised in the digital channel and we know consumers are using digital devices in store, so how does the digital meld with the physical in a department store for example, or in a service centre? It made a lot of sense and it takes a long time to build that capability so instead of building it, we decided to merge these two great organisations.”
On Friday Deloitte released its inaugural report, Navigating the new digital divide – digital influence in Australian retail’, which showed digital interactions influenced 40 per cent of in-store retail visits in Australia in 2014.
In terms of digitally-influenced retail sales, Australia comes in third (40 per cent) behind the US (49 per cent) and Canada (41 per cent), but ahead of Germany (30 per cent) and MashUp’s Karen Spear claims that while finance is leading the way when it comes to service, “it’s interesting to see how it’s now flowing through to FMCG brands which are starting to have to really consider how the digital and physical play together with their presence in different channels, whereas before, each channel was traditionally less focused on digital in the in-store environment”.
She added that customers want and require a high level of engagement and personalisation and that retail needs to step up.
Both Deloitte Digital and MashUp have been rebels in the financial sector over the last three years and claim smart phones have revolutionised banking. Milesi says the next big thing is the emergence of virtual reality and ecommerce.
“We have developed a virtual retail store,”she said, “so you can only enter if you’ve got an Oculus Rift headset, and you go into the virtual store and do things in that environment which you can’t do in a physical store, like changing the colour of clothing and seeing what it looks like on the mannequin.”
She claims that with Robertson and his 10-strong team’s expertise, they can make that virtual world more realistic and effective because they’ll be able to design the virtual physical experience while Deloitte Digital is thinking about the functionality.
“We’re living in an exponential technology world,” she added. “We’re in 2015 but think about what’s happened in the last five years with the absolute dominance of smart phones in our daily lives, and in the next five years we will be having very different experiences. Wearables are on the rise now and they will be absolutely mainstream and used for all sorts of purposes.
“When they introduce ecommerce into virtual reality, it could sky-rocket into a huge proportion of sales. That’s the next step. Ecommerce is being introduced into social media, with Twitter and Facebook, so you can buy it through there. It’s just a very short amount of time before it’s being used in a virtual reality world. When you think about it, it’s already there. It’s already absolutely embedded in all computer games. You’re buying nothing tangible, you’re just buying icons, or flags or badges. So the fusion of buying physical goods through a virtual store is not far off.”
Please login with linkedin to comment
Advertising Standards Bureau revlon stay classy while drinkingLatest News
Sydney Comedy Festival: Taking The City & Social Media By Storm
Sydney Comedy Festival 2024 is live and ready to rumble, showing the best of international and homegrown talent at a host of venues around town. As usual, it’s hot on the heels of its big sister, the giant that is the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, picking up some acts as they continue on their own […]
Global Marketers Descend For AANA’s RESET For Growth
The Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) has announced the final epic lineup of local and global marketing powerhouses for RESET for Growth 2024. Lead image: Josh Faulks, chief executive officer, AANA Back in 2000, a woman with no business experience opened her first juice bar in Adelaide. The idea was brilliantly simple: make healthy […]
Is Meta’s New AI Chatbot Too Left-Wing?
Meta's chatbot accused of being left-wing after being caught wearing a Che Guevara T-shirt & listening to Billy Bragg.
TV Ratings (23/04/2024): Why Did No One Tell Angela That Farmer Wants A Wife Is Set On A Farm?
As wonderful as this headline is, let's face it, we all know an 'Angela', don't we?
PubMatic Unveils New AI Partnership To Turn Social Posts Into Ads For Any Digital Channel
Here's some nifty tech for turning social posts into ads. Assuming said posts aren't one-star character assassinations.
Intuit Mailchimp Makes A Splash With Its First Australian Brand Campaign
Ever laugh along at a gag you didn't get so as not to appear dumb? Get ready for more feigning with this new work.
GumGum’s Rob Hall: Advertisers Can No Longer “Rely On Binary Descriptions” Of Consumers
If anyone's got their finger on adtech's pulse, it's Rob Hall. He also avoids using the good paper in the office printer
Mastercard Nabs Florencia Aimo From Marriott International
Marriott International's Florencia Aimo jumps from the hotel business to the exploitative credit card one.
Bastion Agency Appoints Cheuk Chiang As New ANZ CEO
Cheuk Chiang takes the reins over at Bastion Agency. But not the rains down in Africa.
Spotlight On Sponsors: Major Sponsorship Wins After A Disappointing Week In Sport
B&T continuing our deep dive into local sport sponsorships & that's despite not a single offer of a free ticket as yet.
Macca’s Marketing Director, Samantha McLeod On Big Mac Chant: “What Was Once Old Is Now Cool Again”
Macca's using the power of nostalgia in latest Big Mac campaign. Well, only for those who've ever eaten one sober.
World Premiere Of Midnight Oil: The Hardest Line To Open Sydney Film Festival 2024
Oil's biopic to open Sydney Film Festival. Here's hoping Molly Meldrum will take his pants down at the premiere.
Entries Are Now Open For The 2024 Brandies, IntelligenceBank’s Annual Brand Marketing Awards
The Brandies are, of course, a prestigious marketing gong and not the mystery tipple favoured by nannas everywhere.
The Fred Hollows Foundation Appoints Ardent For PR
Yes, we all like to have a joke at PR's expense. But sometimes it does important work, like this.
AI, eCommerce & Marketing Specialists Are In Increased Demand By Businesses, New Data From Fiverr Shows
Has your philosophy & anthropology degree left you with nothing but a huge HECS debt? Here's what you should've studied.
Perth’s First 3D Anamorphic Billboard Arrives Courtesy Of oOh!media
Do you love a buzzword? Now you can add anamorphic to the list as it relates to billboards, not a colleague's ears.
MasterChef Australia & Crown Resorts Launch Unique Dining Experience With ALUMNI
A pop-up restaurant staffed by MasterChef contestants! That's fine dining prices for first-year apprentice chef cuisine!
Amanda Laing Announces Resignation From Foxtel Group
Foxtel's chief commercial & content officer heads for the exits. Read nice things the bosses said about her right here.
The Lost Letters From Our Diggers: News Corp Unveils ANZAC Day Special
It's nice when brands respectfully acknowledge ANZAC Day.
Howatson+Company Acquires Akkomplice
Large indie acquires a slightly smaller indie. Much like a shark eating a tuna, just with less thrashing and blood.
Google Delays Third-Party Cookie Deprecation Again
In good news for the sale of picture library biscuit photos, Google continues to tease over the end of cookies.
Education A Low Priority For Aussies More Concerned With Cost Of Living Forethought Study Reveals
Study finds Aussies cutting back on education due to cost of living. Booze & Uber Eats sales remain largely unaffected.
“I’m Still The Same Person That I Was”: Rikki Stern Says “Fucc It” To Cancer Stereotypes
B&T always happy to promote the anti-cancer cause. Even brands that massively overdo it with the hot pink.
The Unapproved Climate Certification Allegedly Causing Mass Greenwashing
Are you left flummoxed in the canned tuna & free range eggs aisle? Just wait till this green certification gets up.
TV Ratings (22/04/2024): Fans Mock “Over The Top” Reaction To New MasterChef Judges
MasterChef returns for its 2024 season. B&T stands by putting peppercorns in Gravox & no one will be any the wiser.
Dentsu Restructure: Muddle, Harvey & Johnston Take Leadership Baton As Bass & Yurisich Exit
A large broom has swept through Dentsu's local ops this morning, taking with it some big names & the air con's cobwebs.
Industry Shares Trends Shaping The Industry This International Creators Day
B&T's asking adland creators to reveal their top trends. And it's not good news for your Jenny Kee cardigan collection.
Mable Extends HOYTS Sensory Screenings Partnership
Mable has extended its HOYTS sensory screening partnership. Vigorously defends its two-star Oppenheimer review.
Orphan Launches ‘They Need Our Help. We Need Yours’ For Children’s Cancer Institute
Anything to do with childhood cancers has B&T's 110% support. That said, we do ignore the red meat & alcohol warnings.
Smile Team Orthodontics & Keep Left Collaborate On Smile-Inducing Campaign
As parents would attest, given the cost of orthodontics you'd expect this campaign to be a lavish production indeed.
Opinion: How Video Calls Neglect Learning Diversity
Need an excuse to duck out of a video call this arvo? Show this to your boss.
DoubleVerify Achieves First-Of-Its-Kind Responsible AI Certification From TrustArc
DoubleVerify receives responsible AI certification. However, not its robotic vacuum that's been seen menacing the cat.
Smile For A Good Cause: The Social Media Campaign Giving Back To The Community
Are you known as the office Austin Powers? More for you teeth than shagability? Get snappy new fangs with this news.
Elon Musk Mocks Albo After ESafety Wins Court Injunction Against X
Albo's 2024 from hell continues - Rabbitohs in crisis, down in the polls and now feuding with world's richest man.
Real Estate Developer In Hot Water Over “Sexually Exploitative” OOH Campaign
Real estate agents again tops in the 'least trusted profession' polls, nudging used car salesmen & ad creatives.
Epsilon’s Shane Hanby: Post-Cookie Era Relies On “Teamwork” Between Brands, Marketers & Tech
This pro predicts more "teamwork" in a post-cookie era. Which spells bad news for the uncooperative or plain stubborn.