“Phygital” Fluid Consumption (a fusion of the words physics+Digital) refers to purchasing behavior where the boundaries between the online environment (e-commerce, apps, social networks) and the offline environment (physical stores, kiosks) no longer exist for the consumer.

In this model, the purchasing journey is neither linear nor segregated. The customer moves between channels invisibly, expecting the brand to recognize them and maintain the context of their interaction, regardless of where they are. It's not just about having multiple channels (Omnichannel), but to create a unique experience where the digital enhances the physical and vice versa.

The End of “Online vs. Offline”

Historically, physical stores and e-commerce operated as separate business units, often competing with each other for inventory and commissions. Node Phygital Fluid, this distinction disappears.

The customer’s smartphone acts as the “remote control” for the physical experience. The consumer enters the store already logged into the app, and the physical store salesperson has access to the customer's abandoned cart on the website, being able to close that sale right there.

The Fluid Journey: A Practical Example

To illustrate the concept, imagine the following trajectory that ignores channels:

1. Discovery (Digital): The customer sees a sneaker on Instagram and saves it to their “Wish List” on the brand’s app while going to work.
2. Experimentation (Physical): At lunch time, he goes to the physical store. The app detects your location (Geofencing) and alerts the seller that a VIP customer has entered.
3. Hybrid Transaction: The customer tries on the sneakers, but wants a color that is not in the store's stock. The seller uses a tablet, accesses the e-commerce stock (Infinite Shelf) and makes the sale right there.
4. Logistics (Delivery): The customer leaves the store empty-handed (without bags to carry), and the product is delivered to their home the next day, leaving the nearest distribution center.

Phygital Technological Pillars

For this fluidity to occur without friction, three technologies are fundamental:

• Unified Commerce: A single platform that centralizes all stock, order and customer data. Unlike Omnichannel (which connects different systems), Unified Commerce é a single system.
• Unique Identification: The ability to know that the app user is the same person who just swiped their credit card in the physical store (usually via CPF or loyalty program).
• IoT and Sensors: Use of RFID tags, Beacons and QR Codes to connect physical products to digital information (e.g. scanning the label of a piece on the rack to see reviews from other customers in the app).

Comparison: Traditional Omnichannel vs. Phygital Fluid

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Strategic Benefits

1. Increase in Average Ticket

Customers who move between channels (multichannels) tend to spend up to 30% more than customers who only buy from one channel, as they have more points of contact with the brand.

2. Reduction of Rupture (Stockout)

With the concept of Infinite Shelf(Endless Aisle), the physical store never “loses the sale” due to lack of size or color, as it can sell stock from e-commerce or another branch.

3. Sensory Experience + Data Convenience

Phygital solves the biggest pain in e-commerce (not being able to touch/taste) and the biggest pain in physical retail (lack of information/reviews and queues at the checkout).

Endless Aisle

Infinite Shelf (from English Endless Aisle) is a retail strategy that integrates a brand's physical and digital inventories to ensure that the customer never leaves the store without the desired product, even if the item is not physically available at that location at the time of purchase.

In practice, this involves equipping salespeople in physical stores with mobile devices (tablets or smartphones) or installing self-service kiosks that give access to the company's entire inventory (e-commerce, distribution centers or other branches). If the customer wants a shirt size L and the store only has M, the seller sells size L via the tablet and the product is delivered to the customer's home.

The Problem It Solve: “Inventory Outage”

In traditional retail, stockout (lack of product on the shelf) is the biggest cause of lost revenue. When a customer doesn't find their preferred size or color, they usually leave and buy from a competitor.

AInfinite Shelf eliminates this barrier with the concept of “Save the Sale”. It turns a frustrating experience (“We don’t have your number”) into a service solution (“We don’t have it here, but I can have it delivered to your house tomorrow with free shipping”).

How it works in practice

The operational flow generally follows four steps:

1. The Demand: The customer finds a product in the physical store, but wants a variation (color, size, voltage) that is unavailable in local stock.
2. The Consultation: The seller accesses the Unified Commerce via tablet/smartphone. It visualizes the brand’s “global stock”.
3. The Transaction: Payment is made right there, at the physical store’s machine. For the customer, it is a normal store purchase.
4. Fulfillment (Delivery): The system sends the order to the e-commerce Distribution Center (or to a neighboring store that has the item), which sends the product directly to the customer's address (Ship-from-Store or Ship-from-DC).

Strategic Benefits

1. Physical Space Optimization (Showrooming)

Stores can be smaller and cheaper, functioning as showrooms. They only need to have one piece of each model for the customer to see and touch, without the need to stock complete size charts at the back of the store.

2. Increased Conversion

Studies show that customers who interact with Infinite Shelf technologies in stores tend to have a higher average ticket, as they have access to the complete product catalog, including items exclusive to the website.

3. Loyalty

Solve the customer's need immediately, preventing them from restarting the purchasing journey elsewhere.

Comparison: Traditional Retail vs. Infinite Shelf

Implementation Challenges

For Prateleira Infinita to work, the brand needs to overcome the challenge of Inventory Accuracy. The system needs to know exactly, in real time, how many items there are in each channel. If the system says that there is a part in central stock, but in fact there is not, the “solution” generates even greater frustration (after-sales cancellation).