ASK YOURSELF?
Can I get ON-LINE customers to my Physical Store?
ASK YOURSELF…..
Can I get ON-LINE customers to my Physical Store?
1. Do I advertise price promotinons online that are
only available in-store?
2. Do I inform my online customers when I have in
store events, such as book signings or food preparation demonstrations?
3. Do I offer discount coupons that can be printed at
home but which are redeemable only at my store?
4. Do I inform my online shopper about my physical
store’s re-fits or upgrades? Online only shoppers may be unware of such
improvements.
In the early days of the commercial internet, most
traditional “bricks” retailers were reluctant to join the digital revolution. Even
those who understood more about the web were afraid to adopt it as part of
their sales and distribution chain. The worry was that every online sale would
be one lost from the physical store leading to so called’ channel conflict’. The
result was, of course, that competitors who had adopted the internet gained
with online sales- and the off line company lost out both ways. With online
sales fast approach 20 per cent of all retail, many predict an imminent “tipping
point” when all retailers will have to invest in multi-channel selling and the
proportion of online sales will rise higher still.
Customers are no longer content to travel to an
outlet, buy a product, and carry it home. Digital- age customers may want the
flexibility to “click and collect”- pay for an item online and collect it from
the store. There are three drivers for this: saving shipping expenses,
convenience, and meeting can immediate need. Customer demands have increased-
but so have the opportunities for the digitally aware retailer to meet those
demands.
Many cross- channel customers, who use both on and
offline methods to shop, not only want to be able to walk into the store after
surfing the internet and purchase or pick up the perfect product, they expect
the store to be aware of their order and have it ready and waiting. But the
expectation doesn’t end there. If they order clothes online and discover on delivery
that they don’t fit, they expect to be able to return them to a local store. The
customers might even want to send a text messages to check if the right size is
available before driving down to the shops.
Many commentators have suggested that the day of the
single transaction is dead and the future of marketing is in developing
relationships with customers, so ensuring future sales. If that is the case,
have a big say in the success- or otherwise- of maintaining those
relationships.