Five Tips to Improve the In-Store Experience
Much has been said lately about the proliferation of mobile and online shopping. But brick-and-mortar retail continues to thrive – a fact that tends to get glossed over.
TimeTrade recently conducted a survey of more than 1,000 consumers, and the findings revealed something interesting about shopping behavior. 87% of respondents said they plan to shop in stores in 2015 at least as often as they did in 2014. When asked about Amazon's brick-and-mortar land grab, 71% said they would prefer to shop at a physical Amazon store versus Amazon.com. These trends are all intertwined, and omnichannel retail is forever changing consumers’ path to purchase and, consequently, how brands need to think about the in-store experience.
Today, more and more consumers have already done their homework when they walk into a store. They come armed with knowledge around product features, pricing and competitors’ offerings and expect store associates to be mind readers. To know when and how they want to be approached in the store, what other products might interest them and even their past buying behavior. This is the struggle for retailers.
So how do retailers cater to the discerning, savvy customer of today and optimize in-store sales in an omnichannel world?
Here are five tips that will help retailers meet the needs of the modern consumer:
1. Make every customer feel like a VIP
Personal shopping has long been the privilege of the elite, but with today’s technologies, that luxury experience can be extended to the masses. The TimeTrade survey revealed that 50% of consumers believe the most important value in a sales associate is the ability to make smart recommendations, but it is hard for associates to make those recommendations when they cannot focus on a single customer.
Retailers must make sure they are converting first-touch inquiries into high value in-person meetings. Once customers are in-store, they must provide a knowledgeable associate dedicated to that specific customer. It’s this type of attention that creates a true VIP shopping experience.
2. Empower your associates
Training associates can be costly and time consuming, a challenge that’s compounded by high turnover rates. However, empowering employees with tools so they can provide knowledgeable information and recommendations on the spot will improve their effectiveness. TimeTrade’s primary research has shown that consumers are 91% more likely to return to a store if a knowledgeable associate has helped them. There are tangible gains to be made by arming associates with the right customer background and the tools needed to turn a $50 sale into $150.
3. Develop customer profiles
Retail associates will never be mind readers, but there are certainly inferences that can be drawn when given the right information. Having a customer profile of purchase history and preferences is key to winning in the “concierge economy.” Powerful analytics tools can deliver prescriptive insights into a customer’s end-to-end experience. Imagine never feeling like you're starting from scratch when a customer enters a store.
Providing associates with a 360-degree profile of the customer equips them with the tools needed for cross-sell and up-sell. At the same time, the customer is impressed that the associate already knows their personal preferences, likes and dislikes. This enables the retailers to provide that VIP experience.
4. Decrease wait time
Consumers today feel their time is invaluable. Patience is no longer in their vocabulary and long waits will directly correlate to lost sales. Retailers can offer their customers options such as appointment scheduling or self-service kiosks so they can walk into a store knowing they will meet with an associate right away for assistance. This way, customers do not feel as though they’re time is being wasted – or worse – the brand isn’t being respectful of their needs.
5. Never stop improving: use analytics wisely
Consumer behavior is always changing. To stay on top of it, retailers must constantly track their customers’ end-to-end experience and use that data to improve operations. A mobile survey that immediately follows a customer’s interaction will be able to record a Net Promoter Score. Drill-down analytics will be able to give C-level executives and managers an assessment of what’s working and what’s not on a regional, store and even individual associate level. This allows for improvement across all areas.
As traditional e-tailers such as Warby Parker and Amazon start opening up physical stores, the in-store experience is more crucial than ever. It’s up to the retailers to transform their operations along with consumers’ changing behavior in order to survive.