The Wide Reach Of Digital: How Retailers Can Boost In-Store Sales Through The Screen
CEO of GroupBy, a SaaS-based product discovery platform powered by Google Cloud Retail AI.
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In-store shopping is on the rise again, as more consumers were projected to head to the stores during the 2022 holiday season compared to the 2021 season. While online shopping may beat brick-and-mortar in convenience and ease, the sensory experience of in-store just can’t be replicated through the screen. Despite the ongoing debate over whether online or in-store will become king, consumers have made it loud and clear—they use both.
According to a report by IBM and the National Retail Federation, most customers start their shopping journeys online, with around 75% of consumers learning about a product through channels like a website or marketplace. However, that figure changes dramatically in the consideration phase, where 65% of consumers report shifting to in-store behavior.
The Role Of Tech In Serving Today’s Hybrid Shoppers
Consumers are blending the benefits of in-store and online channels to forge a path to purchase that fits their needs. In this new era of cross-channel retail, digital is an indispensable sales channel. It is the key to connecting a customer’s online data to their in-store experience, creating relevancy throughout the customer journey. With technical innovation and creativity, it can deliver an elevated shopping experience that truly meets customers where they are—whether online, in-store or somewhere in between.
To reach the true potential of the hybrid environment, retailers need to have a solid technical foundation built around connectivity, personalization and flexibility. This includes a marketing solution connecting customers’ online and in-store data, robust AI-powered product discovery delivering highly personalized search and recommendations, and versatile inventory management. A website’s search, browse and recommendations functionality as well as its inventory management must be flexible enough to scale between enterprise-wide and store-specific environments to match customer behavior and preferences.
Use Experience To Extend Purchases
Several factors determine whether a customer will purchase something online or in-store: convenience, value, need, variety and time. These all vary from purchase to purchase. A customer could pass a store on the drive home one week and then be overwhelmed with after-school activities the next. One factor that remains consistent is the sensory experience. When asked why they prefer to shop in-store, the IBM report found that 50% of consumers said they prefer to touch and feel products before purchase.
Items with a high experience factor can be a great way to entice customers to stores, and you can use previous online purchases to lure them in. Say a customer orders a record player online; you could include an in-store discount for high-quality speakers with their order. While you could up-sell them during the initial purchase, speakers are an experiential product—especially for music enthusiasts who can be sticklers for sound quality. They can test the product out for themselves in-store, and you can extend that purchase by catering to a shopping experience they are more likely to want for this item.
Take Time And Place Into Account
Consumable items like cleaning products and personal hygiene will always be a sure bet for in-store shopping. We tend to forget we need them until we’ve run out, creating an immediate need and a last-minute trip to the store. By merging past purchase data and in-store location, retailers could use push notifications or flash promotions through their retail app as convenient reminders. Product discovery can also provide AI-driven product recommendations centered around consumption cycles, which prompt shoppers to “buy it again” at the right time via personalized product carousels. This can allow shoppers who prefer an online experience to very conveniently add these easy-to-forget consumables to their shopping cart. This type of convenience can keep shoppers coming back.
Streamline In-Store Trips With Augmented Reality
Retail has a long history of moving and rearranging inventory to catch the eye of shoppers and capitalize on impulse purchases. In today’s market, however, convenience is king. Customers don’t want to waste time wandering the aisles, turning a 10-minute trip into an hour-long venture. They’re looking for ways to speed things up. According to Google, 56% of consumers use their smartphones when shopping in-store, and product location is one of their top activities.
Displaying aisle numbers and including store maps are standard app features, but the next phase of product location will streamline entire journeys. By combining shopping lists, product locations and store maps, retailers could use kiosks or the store app to layer those data points together and display the most efficient route back to customers. They could then capitalize on that time saved by offering personalized promotions or coupons at the start of the visit, allowing consumers to add them to their route.
Don’t Let A Trip Be Wasted
Confirming a product is in stock is another common use of digitally aided shopping. Whether a consumer forgot to look the item up before their arrival or remembers a last-minute item, it’s never a pleasant surprise when the thing you’re looking for is out of stock. When this happens in online shopping, customers are met with a list of similar items to keep them on the site; this same tactic can be applied in-store. Technology can allow the app to present customers with a list of similar items in the store they are standing in and make them feel like they didn’t waste a trip.
In its current State of Retail report, the National Retail Federation states that “all shopping is retail.” While the industry has been slow to take this stance, it’s been the perspective of consumers from the beginning; in the absence of innovation from businesses, they’ve used the tools at their disposal to create their hybrid paths to purchase. To meet today’s modern shoppers, retailers must adopt a single-journey mindset and invest in modern technology that unifies the customer experience across the omnichannel.
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