How 9 brands with physical locations made their services virtual

In 2020, the era of digital transformation is in full swing.

At this point, video, blogging, and content marketing tops the list of tactics brands are investing more in. Meanwhile, 97% are learning more about businesses online than anywhere else .

As most brands embrace today's digital transformation and technology via web marketing tactics like blogging, network marketing social media and email newsletters, other companies are going even further by putting some of their services online inno one.

For example, over the past year or so, we've seen beauty experts, career coaches, tax reps, and even educators start planning online classes or consultations that allow their customers learn from them without ever having to set foot in the hall.

The growth of virtualized services makes a lot of sense. In the past, in-person services relied on local marketing and good geographic coverage. But, now virtual services can open up a pool of clients nationally or internationally. Not to mention, brands that make themselves more accessible to customers can even be seen as companies that really care about customer experience .

As long as it is still not possible to put all companies and services online, recentlyt, a number of unexpected companies have gotten creati ve to virtualize services that were originally supposed to take place in a store or physical location.

If you think some of your products or services could go completely digital, but you need a little inspiration, here are nine examples of brands that have made some or all of their products virtual. formerly physical services.

9 brands that have rendered virtual services

Planet Fitness

Recently, after temporarily closing all branches of Planet Fitness and suspended gym membership fees, Planet Fitness began offering virtual "work-in " classes and online training . While they don't make any money with these classes, they are a solid strategy for customer retention by encouraging those who don't go to the gym regularly to use the trainers.Planet Fitness expert trainers to stay in shape.

Here is a video of one of the "work-ins " which was first featured on Facebook Live.

When Planet Fitness locations reopen, patrons may remember the efforts Planet Fitness made to keep everyone healthy and active despite the venue being closed. sport. This could make members feel like the gym cares about its customers, even if it doesn't generate income from them.

Lure Salon

In 2020, a number of local and branded hair salons offered virtual consultations, online beauty tutorials and guided haircuts. The Lure Salon is an example of a local business adopting video calling technology to continue serving its customers.

According to the Dallas-based salon website, customers can book a time for FaceTime wit h a stylist. They can use this time to discuss what type of color or style they are thinking of for their hair, create a coloring plan that can be done at home, and learn more about the tools needed for a safe hairstyle.

Sweet Farm

In March, Sweet Farm, a California-based animal sanctuary, launched a campaign where animal lovers could invite the one of the organization's goats, llamas, cows or other animals to video calls. The campaign is cleverly titled " Goat-2-Meeting , " a play on GoToMeeting - popular video conferencing software.

Source

" Our board member, Jon Azoff, came up with the idea and said, “You know, we have so many corporate meetings and happy hours, but they're all boring. What if we could have a goat or a llama to call? " Nate Salpeter, co-founder of Sweet Farm, told CNN .

According to the Goat-2- Meeting Site , people all over the world can schedule an animal encounter for donations ranging from $ 65 to $ 750 depending on the number of people planning to attend and whether the video call will be arranged for a small group of friends or a business.

In most of the meeting formats offered , guests will have a quick tour of the farm, some information about the animal on their call, and an opportunity to pose questions. has questions about Sweet Farm or the animal.

Not only is this campaign adorable, it also helps the farm generate income and spread awareness of their organization's mission on a viral global scale. According to Sweet Farm, the campaign has been so successful that there is a waiting list to book a meeting .

Venture Cafe Cambridge

Based in the hub of dStart of Cambridge, Mass., Venture Cafe is a physical venue that hosts events to promote the local startup and innovation community. Events often include pitching sessions, expert Q&A, fundraisers, networking nights, workshops and presentations from business experts.

Recently, Venture Cafe, or VenCaf, has started offering a number of virtual opportunities for those who couldn't attend physical events. These virtual events include webinars, Q&A, workshops, and virtual networking. VenCaf has also launched podcasts, videos and other online resources to educate the startup community.

Allstate

Since 2016, Allstate has been virtually inspecting insured property via drone streams. This strategy, considered incredibly innovative at leastent of its launch, has also been recognized with an award from the Novarica Insurance Technology Research Council .

When a customer makes a request or files a claim online for homeowners, tenants, or professional property insurance, Allstate may deploy drones to examine the insured site or confirm the damage visible.

W While a representative may still need to visit and inspect certain sites or claims, drone photos or videos may speed up the process of getting customers insured. 'money faster. It can also be safer for representatives and policyholders when the property is too dangerous to set foot in after a fire, flood, or other type of damage.

H&R Block

H&R Block offers Online Support for tax filers that allows you to chat in real time with a taxmanalist while you prepare your tax returns. For more complex questions and troubleshooting, you can also make a video call and share your screen with an H&R Block representative who can walk you through how to complete your tax forms.

While this add-on does not equal having a tax file accountant, it might make clients more comfortable with H&R Block For example, if someone cannot afford an accountant but is worried about making a mistake on their taxes, they can file using the tool Online Assistance for Live Insurance from a Tax Professional that he is doing everything right.

Warby Parker

Warby Parker Is Well Known for turning the in-person aspects of eyeglass shopping into almost entirely virtual experiences. While those who still prefer to buy eyeglasses in person can visit a Warby Parker store, those who just wish to have a go.quick buy can practically try on glasses, buy them online and return them if they are faulty.

In addition to virtual editing, Warby Parker now even helps you determine your visual preion from home with the Preion Check app. With the desktop and mobile app, you will receive some automatic prompts in a discussion thread. Then you will be tested to determine your distance and near vision. Following these tests, a real Warby Parker Doctor will review your results and confirm your preion with you.

Ultimately, Warby Parker's client tools streamline the once-fully in-person aspects of looking for glasses. can use them to determine your visual needs, map your face to determine if you need high or low index glasses, get glasses shape suggestions, and ultimately buy a pair that you want.comes.

Home Depot

Painting a house can be time consuming, especially if you are picky. comes to color. Chances are, you will visit your local hardware store several times to get more paint samples or different shades of paint. However, a number of hardware stores, including The Home Depot, have tried to streamline the paint sampling process by allowing you to virtually see different shades of their paint on your wall.

The Home Depot paint preview application is called ProjectColor . With the app, you can not only preview your own rooms in any Home Depot paint color, but you can also see what the shades look like in other rooms with different tastes thanks to the photos available on the app. 'application.

Besides ProjectColor, you can also see what rAssemble certain objects or appliances in your home using Home Depot. AR-based preview tools.

L 'Oreal

As someone who dyes their hair at least twice a year, I know this can be a strangely enough process. arduous. First, you go online, search for different hairstyles on Google, and discuss all the images you find with your friends to get their opinions. , if you can't go to a hairdresser, you go to a drugstore, compare all the different colors and boxes to the photos you have, hold the preview image on the box up to your hair to see how the dye will come out, buy the dye and hope it will work well for you.

Although L 'Oreal cannot physically dye your hair for you without in-person interactions, they have developed a virtual tool that can help you streamline thea color search and preview process. The tool, called Stylize My Hair , uses AR to scan a photo of your face. From there, you can browse a variety of L 'Oreal haircuts and hair colors to get an idea of ​​which one would look best on you.

Once you have decided what you want to make your hair, you can either capture the image to get feedback from friends or relatives or buy the hair color products directly from L 'Oreal website.

Do you need to virtualize your services?

Are you trying to determine if your company is a good candidate for a virtual transformation, ask yourself the following questions:

Can any of my services be performed between a client and a representative via video chat?

H&R Block, Lure Salon and many other organizations realized that they didn 't haveyou don't necessarily need customers to bring them value. For this reason, if they are not able to provide a one-on-one physical experience, they ask their experts to educate or assist clients through video calls, phone calls, or live chats. Later, when that client is satisfied with the service and interactions they have had with the brand expert, they can research the brand for a physical service - like a complex haircut.

If you can Don't make your primary product virtual, can you offer their digital assets?

While Planet Fitness cannot create a virtual version of a gym, the company has taken advantage of its fitness experts and trainers by asking them to film workout videos . This allows clients or fans who cannot enter the gym to learn how to stay fit at home tout by taking advantage of Planet Fitness when their physical branch is closed.

Will the cost of the race be included. the virtual wins over the reward?

Asking employees, you already need to skip a video call with a customer, maybe it won't cost you more than running a physical service, hiring an AR developer to creating product overviews or buying a drone to watch job sites can cost a fortune for a small or medium business.

Make sure you take a good look at your budget and constraints to determine if a virtual approach will be worth it. In addition to looking at the potential ROI , you should also think about the impact of this virtual approach on retaining customers or new customers who have not been able to visit your physical business for various reasons.

If you want to offer yourself services or virtual resources r audience, see cGuides for running virtual events , live streaming , augmented reality and video conferencing .