Melbourne-based tea retailer T2 is looking to bring its distinctive bricks-and-mortar stores to life online with the help of augmented reality. The brand aims to give customers the experience of walking through a T2 store — with its bright orange boxes stacked to the ceiling, porcelain teapots and cups piled high on shelves and guided tastings — from the comfort of their couch. “If you think about online, it’s click-and-look, click-and-look, whereas if we can present a
ent a virtual store to a customer, they’ve got a lot better ability to understand the offer,” Todd Foster, T2’s global director of retail and e-commerce, told Inside Retail
Combined with a live chat solution that will enable T2 staff to answer questions and share product knowledge, the retailer hopes to make online shopping feel more personal and engaging — like a bricks-and-mortar store visit — in future.
“Clearly, the taste and smell is not there, but [it will give customers] a far better understanding of the products and the flavours and ingredients,” he said.
Seamless experience
Foster did not give a date when the augmented reality and live chat features are expected to launch, but he said the retailer has spent the past year and a half bringing its e-commerce site up to speed in preparation for these and other digital initiatives.
“Our historical business has been very much focused on in-store experience,” he said. “As consumer buying behaviour changes, we identified a need to both maintain what is special about T2, but also [create] a far more seamless online-offline [experience].”
This can be seen in T2’s approach to pricing and promotions, which is now consistent across stores and online, and inventory management. The retailer recently announced a new partnership with software provider Fluent Commerce that will enable it to use store inventory to fulfil online orders, rather than having to rely on a single distribution centre in Victoria.
“As you would expect [this will lead to] a significant reduction in lead time from order to delivery, and also the ability for us to personalise the package,” Foster said.
The service will launch in select Australian stores in time for Christmas, before expanding to New Zealand, the UK and US.
Record online sales
This digital investment comes as T2’s online sales have boomed during the global pandemic. T2 outperformed the market in terms of its e-commerce growth in 2020, Foster said, and it is currently experiencing another spike in online sales due to lockdown-related store closures in Australia and New Zealand.
He credited this growth to the retailer’s improved e-commerce site and its strong health and wellness offering.
“We’ve got great products that our customers love, particularly with regards to sleep,” he said. “They’re really driving top-line revenue at the moment.”
These products will be a key area of focus for T2 in 2022.
But despite the rise of online, Foster said bricks-and-mortar stores will remain a critical part of T2’s business model moving forward.
The retailer plans to roll out endless aisle technology in future, so if a customer comes into a store and wants to buy a product that is out of stock, store staff will be able to order the item online or from another store and have it delivered to the customer’s preferred address.
T2 currently has more than 75 stores worldwide, and Foster expects this number to continue to grow.
“As with everything, out of mind out of sight,” he said.
“We will strategically open stores where it makes sense to do so. We may not open 20 a year but we will certainly be maintaining and growing our bricks-and-mortar footprint, both here and internationally.”