If you pay much attention to the impressions given, the next generation of shoppers, as they grow into that role, will know of nothing but online shopping. To continue to attract visitors into a physical bricks and mortar location, there is no doubt that retailers are going to have to fully embrace the electronic universe as part of their marketing strategy. The key question therefore, is how to do so. Here are five steps to consider for your business.
Make your social media conversations the start of a physical experience
If not already there, it's time to face up to
the fact that every retail business is going to need to have an online and
social media presence. In a way, places such as Twitter or Facebook are modern
extensions of traditional print advertising, in that you can use them to inform
and interest, and then to guide your customers to wherever you want them to be.
They should be lively and shareable, written for the generation you want to
talk to, telling them what they want to know, and then making it easy for them
to take the action you want - some of the later points will help facilitate
this.
Make
visiting your store an experience rather than a chore
With shopping increasingly happening online, it's
very easy to build a negative impression of the traditional physical retail
store. However, let's compare this to movie-watching activity. Young people
still enjoy the experience of going to the cinema, in spite of the many ways
they can choose to watch at home or online. Therefore, if visiting a store is made
part of an event and not simply another way to buy an item (there are quicker
alternatives), then you are much more likely to gain an audience of customers.
Look for ways to move people from the online to the in-person. These can
include special shows or demonstrations, electronic vouchers only available for
use in-store, or making use of the unique events that can only occur physically
(it's difficult to try on new clothes from your mobile). To misquote a line
from the movie Field Of Dreams: "If you enthuse them they will come", therefore
look to create and promote a series of unique events, product launches and the
like within your physical premises.
Make your
online activities encourage a physical visit
There are a wide range of ways to use your
online presence to facilitate a visit to your retail store. Many businesses are
already providing a complete stock inventory on their website, allowing a potential
customer to check availability of a specific item before committing to a visit.
Added to this, it's then possible to use a click and collect facility to tie
down that personal visit - when much more than the already chosen purchase is
available to consider. For example, you might add a bonus to any order that is
placed with a discount voucher for any other purchase made when
"collecting".
Make sure
your website is fully optimised for mobile viewing
It's easy to gain an impression of a
stay-at-home generation, buying from their bedrooms, and never seeing the light
of day. However the reality isn't all that bad; people of the millennium are
truly mobile, and with devices to match. Many retailers have not yet caught up
with the need to ensure that their website is compellingly mobile-friendly,
easily and instantly viewed to best effect on phones, iPads and the like. By
achieving this, you can then attract impulse customers, who suddenly are
looking for a product and are in your neighbourhood. A quick search, a
satisfactory online experience, such as being able to confirm your opening
hours, and they can be walking through your door within moments.
Make it as easy to pay as possible
A generation ago, Barclaycard
stepped into the sunlight, the first credit card offering a new dimension of
payment options (apparently there used to be something called cheques). Now, as
you can find out at Barclaycard.com,
they are leading the way beyond the plastic and into delivering mobile and
contactless payment methods that enhance the physical buying experience. The
next steps are already being trialled: contactless payment gloves.
These create a handy new way to pay for your shopping without the need to
rummage around for your wallet- shoppers can simply touch their glove onto the
card machine to pay.
Matching this ease-of-payment to simplification
of purchase, delivering action-demanding social media messages, and then
enhanced in-store experiences, are all ways to help the world of physical
retail claim its deserved place in the modern marketplace.