After a year spent in lockdown, customers have grown accustomed to the comforts of online shopping but miss the thrill of the in-person retail experience. As the economy reopens you can give customers the best of both worlds by building synergy between your online and brick-and-mortar businesses. There are a few key ways your company can create a seamless shopping experience.
Consider the Customer Experience
A satisfactory customer experience is the foundation of business growth, and the modern consumer interacts with companies across digital and physical spaces. As a result of this trend, customers now expect companies to meet their need for multiple shopping channels, like omnichannel options.
Omnichannel marketing refers to a business’ seamless integration of all online and brick-and-mortar interactions. Adopting this type of strategy can generate big returns for your business. A survey conducted by Aspect Software found that companies who adopt omni-channel strategies achieve 91% greater annual customer retention rates compared to businesses that don’t have a synergized strategy.
Envision Connections
When you revamp your sales floor or design your company website, you have to put the customer experience at the forefront of each decision and find a way to integrate your aesthetic, voice, user experience, and product offerings into a cohesive online and in-person brand experience.
The average consumer uses six touchpoints in the purchasing process. There are a few strategies your company can implement to create strong customer touchpoints and create a seamless shopping experience all while increasing sales and customer retention. Where do you begin? Start with branding.
Full-Spectrum Branding
A strong brand identity will jumpstart your omnichannel strategy. Over 70% of customers want a consistent brand experience across platforms yet only 29% say brands actually deliver. If your company can find ways to create a unified brand image across online, in-store, and event shopping, there is a huge opportunity to stand out from your competition.
Presenting your brand consistently across all of your marketing channels can increase revenue by 23%. This attention to detail can positively impact your business. Your logo is a perfect example. It needs to appear the same on your website, in-store, on business cards, and on your banners. This visual consistency makes it easy for customers to remember your brand. Keep colors and fonts consistent across digital and physical marketing materials too.
Make It Personal
There are two main components to a successful customer experience: offer omnichannel options and find opportunities to personalize the user experience. Adding personalized content increases the efficiency of marketing spend by 10 to 30%.
With so many great ways to add personalized touches to the shopping experience, it’s easy to create long-lasting customer relationships. Adding a customer’s name to a sales flyer or on the login page of your online portal are easy ways to foster connection. Send brochures with coupons ahead of a customer’s birthday or include branded coffee mugs with high-ticket purchases.
Adding these personalized touches across channels will position your company as one that genuinely cares about its customers. These small additions have a big impact on repeat business numbers.
Digitize Your Brick-and-Mortar
Gone are the days of single-channel shopping. If you want to stay competitive, you have to offer new ways for your customers to purchase products. Over 90% of leading retailers believe a seamless omnichannel strategy is critical for business success.
Customers often research products online via search engines or social media before purchasing these items in store. Adding digital elements to your physical salesfloor is a great way to generate higher revenue. In fact, omnichannel shoppers spend 4% more in store and 10% more online than single-channel customers. For every additional channel a customer uses, the more money they spend.
As a small business, you don’t need expensive retail overhauls or complicated software to achieve an omnichannel structure. If you showcase new inventory on social media, show the product display location in your posts so customers can find these items during their next in-store visit. Adding a table top banner display with a saying like “As Seen On Instagram” or “Facebook Weekly Deal” is a great way to drive in-store sales from online promotions.
Adding QR codes to in-store signs and direct mail brochures are great ways to connect physical and digital retail spaces. If you launch new inventory, have QR codes with in-depth product descriptions and vendor backstories next to these displays. Adding these digital accents to brochures lets customers easily place online orders for carry out and delivery too.
Boost Sales With BOPIS
As you develop your omnichannel strategy, remember that convenience is key. Find ways to simplify the shopping experience for your customers and anticipate potential pain points. Buy online, pick up in store (BOPIS) shopping options have become very popular with modern customers and major retailers have noticed.
From Target to Wal-Mart, large and small businesses alike can benefit from integrated shopping options like BOPIS. Three-fourths of customers who use BOPIS are more likely to make an additional purchase and 49% make impulse buys when they pick items up at the store. This is just one example of how seamless shopping options drive sales.
Signage Is Essential
Signs and banners also play a crucial role in a strong, synergized marketing plan. Nine in ten customers want seamless service between communication methods. Signs and banners are great in-store communication tools. Place BOPIS signage near pick up areas, direct customers to sale items with shelf banners, and use outdoor banners to highlight social media promotions and in-store events.
Nearly 76% of shoppers made an in-store visit to a new business simply because the business had quality signs. On the other hand, 60% of shoppers are deterred from visiting stores without any signage. If you update a seasonal promotion online, make sure your storefront and salesfloor have signage with the same message. As you update your branding and logos, keep these elements the same across print, digital, and in-store marketing materials and banners to increase brand recognition.
Don’t Ditch Direct Mail
Email newsletters and social media platforms can increase customers outreach and brand visibility, but direct mail is a strong contender too. Afterall, 39% of customers try a business for the first time because they received direct mail from that company. Brochures or sales flyers are great ways to cross-promote online sales and in-store events with your email and social media campaigns.
Seamless Solutions
Modern customers expect companies of all sizes to have a multichannel or omnichannel business strategy. Nearly 90% of customers think companies can do a better job of adopting an omnichannel strategy. Therefore, your business can rise above the competition with a synergized plan for online and in-store shopping.
Make sure the customer’s experience is convenient and cohesive as they switch from one channel to the next along their purchasing journey. If your company can rise to the occasion with a few simple strategies, you will increase consumer satisfaction, encourage customer loyalty, and increase brand awareness and sales.
References
Survey: Businesses that Use Omni-channel Strategies Have Far Better Customer Retention Rates
Loyalty360
Omnichannel Stats You Don’t Want To Miss
Knexus
Customer Service Expectations Are Rising – Is Your Business Keeping Up?
Forbes
https://www.forbes.com/sites/allbusiness/2019/04/10/customer-service-expectations/?sh=828104f14e54
50+ Eye-Opening Branding Statistics – 2021 Edition
Smallbizgenius
https://www.smallbizgenius.net/by-the-numbers/branding-statistics/#gref
The Effectiveness of Personalized Content
CW
RETAILERS STRUGGLING TO MASTER OMNICHANNEL
Research Live
https://www.research-live.com/article/news/retailers-struggling-to-master-omnichannel/id/5031952
A Study of 46,000 Shoppers Shows That Omnichannel Retailing Works
Harvard Business Review
https://hbr.org/2017/01/a-study-of-46000-shoppers-shows-that-omnichannel-retailing-works
Buy Online Pick Up In Store – Statistics and Trends [Infographic]
Invesp
Delivering an Excellent Omni-channel Experience
CX Today
STATISTICS ON WHY SIGNAGE IS IMPORTANT FOR YOUR BUSINESS
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/statistics-why-signage-important-your-business-paul-ingle/
12 Direct Mail Statistics You Should Know in 2021
Fundera
