Kitchen Warehouse is capitalizing on current trends* around the ongoing convergence of pure play online retail and traditional physical stores this week by rolling out new endless aisles in all stores via digital kiosks and Click and Collect online as the $45 million turnover company continues to dominate as Australia's #1 in kitchenware.
The bold move to merge online retailer Kitchenware Direct earlier this year with Kitchen Warehouse's seven physical stores reflects online retail trends highlighted by research from Commonwealth Bank, stating that 18 percent of online-only retailers are planning to establish a physical outlet in the year ahead.
The retailer, which is expanding into Queensland and Victoria early next year, are using innovative technology, in the form of supersized digital tablets, to allow customers to swipe and order products a greater variety of stock or more variations in colour or style in the company's warehouses across the country. The customers can then have the product shipped to their homes.
Kitchen Warehouse will also be offering an online
Click and Collect service, where customers can order online and pick their item up from in-store the same day.
Kitchen Warehouse Director, Peter Macaulay says providing a seamless, omni-channel customer experience is the driving force behind the decision.
"We pride ourselves on always going above and beyond to ensure our customers have a channel-agnostic and consistent brand experience whether they're ordering via phone, online or in-store."
"While we are the largest kitchenware store in the country, only half of our 12,000 products actually fit in-store, and we are aware this is pushing our customers to shop online."
With 50 per cent of the company's revenue driven via their e-commerce site, the drive toward omni-channel retailing has the potential to turn Kitchen Warehouse's seven physical stores into more substantial revenue drivers.
CEO of FoyerLive, the Aussie startup implementing the ground-breaking digital signage, Dean Flynn says,
"We are excited to be partnering with Kitchen Warehouse and helping them become stores of the future by enabling innovation and delivering next generation services to their customers."
"Their leadership's vision, and their internal team capabilities have made the project easy to implement and we're excited to continue to work with them as they roll out additional innovations in-store."
