6th Street CEO Dharmin Ved spoke about the future of digital retail in the UAE at The Retail Summit in Dubai on Tuesday.
Owned by The Apparel Group, 6th Street is an e-commerce platform selling apparel and fashion wear.
Data collected by 6th Street showed that the company would be able to have more inventory than traditional retailers if they incorporated digital concepts.
“We are able to keep 2.4 times more inventory per square feet than any other retail concept,” Mr Ved told ME Retail News.
“We combined the ‘wow features’ of a digital and physical store”, said Mr Ved, explaining how the company decided on a phygital store.
Last year, the e-commerce store launched the GCC’s first ‘phygital’ store at the Dubai Hills Mall.
The store combined physical store space with advanced immersive features.
Customers can add clothes to a digital cart and then physically try on the clothes.
Mr Ved explained that he wished to create the best of online and offline retail into a single store.
Physical stores allow customers to touch and feel the product they are buying, while online stores allow for greater collection of clothes.
“Physical location helps our e-commerce as well, since it builds trust in customers,” Mr Ved said.
Mr Ved also explained that this helps in better data collection, since the company can now know more about customers using its e-commerce platform and physical store as well.
Mr Ved added that there are no point of sale kiosks at the store. The customer can reach out to a salesperson at the store and immediately buy a product through them and leave.
“The next generation of customers are digital natives”, Mr Ved added, explaining that they are accustomed to new technology.
6th Street’s phygital stores will be launching in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, Mr Ved said.
