By Retail Dive
Despite rising inflation and gas price fluctuations, consumers remain optimistic and eager to shop. For retailers, revenue goals hinge on their ability to steer in-transit consumers to their doorsteps, elevating physical stores as key touchpoints in the omnichannel customer journey.
Earlier this year, Retail Dive conducted a survey of retail brand and agency leaders on behalf of Waze, pairing findings with Waze navigation insights and other industry data to identify ways retailers can drive in-store revenue. Those insights, captured in a report titled “3 Insights Retailers Can Use to Meet Shoppers Where They’re Going,” include three takeaways for turning commuters into customers.
When it comes to retail, in-person shopping provides outsized instant gratification.
Nothing replaces the feeling of holding a wishlist purchase in your hands and enjoying a coveted item right away. For all the convenience e-commerce can offer, it can’t match the instant warm-fuzzies that follow an in-person purchase.
Retailers know it, too. Surveyed retail leaders told Retail Dive they “agree or strongly agree” on three points: in-person retailers have the ability to deliver instant gratification to customers (88%), in-store shopping provides enhanced customer interactions (79%) and in-person shopping experiences increase customer lifetime value (78%).1
Monetizing the trend
Six in ten shoppers favor brands that have a physical location, and nearly eight in ten go to a store for items they want to enjoy immediately.2 Following a positive experience, 82% of shoppers return and 64% spend more each time they visit.3 Rather than pitting online and physical stores as rivals, retailers should recognize consumers now crave a blend of physical and digital experiences that work together to deliver speed, ease and personalization.
To that end, retailers can make searching for items, product trials and transactions easier with (1) strong in-store connectivity, (2) staff trained to answer common questions about popular products — along with price-match scenarios on the sales floor — and (3) optimized point-of-sale experiences when consumers are ready for purchase.
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