The online world is full of potential. When the pandemic shut down access to many businesses, some of that potential was realized in terms of online shopping and the convenience it can provide customers. Now that customers are back in-store, however, convenience is still expected, with 52% of consumers saying it impacts more than half of their purchasing decisions. What might businesses do to better appease in-store customers? Below are a few examples of how to bring online sale strategies into the brick-and-mortar retail industry.
To start, it’s important to understand why customers tend to prefer in-store shopping. Recent surveys found that the factors driving them towards in-location shopping mainly come down to the benefits of being in-person. For instance, 59% say the ability to experience the product in a hands-on sense was important, and 45% answered that the opportunity to browse draws them inside.
Overall, 44% of shoppers still prefer the in-store experience over online. Although this is good news for brick-and-mortar businesses, it’s likely not enough to keep pace with the modern-day shopper. Companies of all shapes and sizes ought to consider making modernizations, especially if they seek to establish themselves as successful retailers in the future. One example of these modernizations is specialized technology.
Retailers can use a variety of technological improvements to their advantage throughout the store. Starting at the registers, customers — especially younger generations — expect fast, streamlined check-out and payment processes. From contactless payments to interactive self-checkout kiosks, there are many ways to make this step in the customer journey as simple and up to date as possible. What’s more, as these innovations tend to produce a high-quality checkout experience, customers are often more satisfied and loyal as a result.
Another thing brick-and-mortar retailers could learn from online shopping is just how beneficial a precise sales tracking system could be for business as a whole. Whether it’s enhancing product stock management, offering data-backed insight into customer buying behavior or generating live reports on employee performance, these analytic POS software systems could help improve operations and lead to more effective decision making.
Lastly, businesses would be remiss to overlook the impact custom point-of-purchase (POP) displays can have on customers. From modernizing cross-selling tactics via digital screens to providing customers with informative, eye-catching visuals, there is a wide range of highly effective retail display equipment available to influence purchasing behavior.
Customizing and updating the customer experience as expectations change has become essential in our oversaturated market. To stay competitive, organizations across all industries should be looking to the future and how they might continually improve their customers’ experience.
For additional ways to implement online shopping strategies in an in-store setting, please see the accompanying resource.
https://coruzant.com/digital-strategy/in-store-digitization-is-brick-and-mortars-competitive-edge/
https://www.volusion.com/blog/lessons-from-brick-and-mortar-shops-we-can-adapt-to-ecommerce/
Provided by InterMarket Technology – a leading manufacturer of wooden display racks for retail stores