As digital craze has taken over the reigns of our retail industry, shoppers are becoming more and more demanding. They have a lot of expectations from retailers, which are soaring higher with every passing day. Retailers who are incompetent of providing that unique buying experience to each of their customers are headed to face a slump in their business.
This has forced retailers to re-think their strategies about providing the feel their customers are looking for. Nowadays, offering a personalized shopping experience is a norm. Retailers are making every customer’s experience unique by presenting personalized offers and tailored suggestions based on his particular preferences and wants.
Since customers behaviours are quickly evolving, they expect retailers to guess their needs, providing them with personalized offers. With this huge need to fulfill each customer’s individual demands, the question isn’t about how the retailers should change. It is in fact, where they should start from.
Multiple researches conducted on how customer behaviour affects retail business indicate that retailers should offer customer-centric solutions, giving as much personalized experience to their shoppers. And though it might seem impossible to offer all of your customers with a personalized shopping experience, there are few steps that can help you achieve the goal while simplifying the process.
Deal With Customers On Their Terms
Todays’ consumer doesn’t seem much bothered whether he is making the purchase on the retail outlet or on its online platform. What they are looking for is a customized experience, regardless of where they interact with the retailer.
To start offering your customers a customized shopping approach, you should give them the freedom to engage with your brand across both online and physical platforms. When it comes to peaking customer engagement, we know that social media is the only place we should be considering. According to a survey conducted previous year by PwC, 40% of shoppers were ready to make their purchases after reading online reviews and feedback.
In order to target a wider customer base, you can consider partnering with widely-followed bloggers and Instagram influencers. You can also use paid campaigns such as Facebook ads and Instagram posts.
Another way to deal with customers the way they want to be dealt is to make use of the information from analytics and insights. Retailers should constantly monitor how much they are making use of the data that they have and should derive sale-boosting actions from the information all across their channels.
Information from analytics such as where your customers made the last purchase, what was the last product they bought, which other websites they visit for similar products and what motivation can compel them to make the purchase i.e. free shipping, discount, sale etc. can be utilized to provide a more refined in-store experience.
In addition to devising a tailored shopping experience based on consumer analytics from retail outlets and digital channels, you can employ following methods to chalk out a customized plan.
- Utilize Loyalty Programs: We know that all loyalty programs are not created equal. So rather providing a similar loyalty program for your customers, you can personalize the offerings based on their preferences. This could mean offering your customers personalized promotions, tailored marketing campaign or exclusive in-store treatment.
- Consider Other Digital Opportunities: Do not confine yourself to one or two options. Consider expanding your reach by using other tools such as RFID tags that enable a multi-channel experience, weaving your online channels with your retail outlets.
Provide Multi-Channel Experience
Providing customer with a multi-channel experience can significantly help retailers design effective customized feel for their clients. Retailers who have both online and offline presence can tap on this opportunity by utilizing the information they gain from multi-channels.
Retailers’ mere focus shouldn’t be on providing channels on mobile and web but also ensuring that they connect them cohesively. Don’t simply rely on a beautifully designed website, easy-to-use apps and a well-stocked store. Instead gather all the information from these different sources to generate desired outcomes. Information from these varied sources can help retailers carefully assess and evaluate consumer behavior, providing valuable solutions that would engage their customers, giving them unique, customized experiences.
This can conveniently be done by:
- Provide An Encouraging Cross-Culture Brand Experience: Your customer may view your product online. However, he may make the actual purchase in your retail outlet. The channel where the customer first comes across the product isn’t necessarily the channel which he will consider while pulling the trigger. So try making moving from channel to channel easy and simple.
- Make Your Customers Aware Of Presence of Different Channels: As a retailer, you should ensure that your consumer is aware of multi-channel options that he is presented with.
- Train Your Staff: A research conducted by PwC shows that nearly 40% of consumers think that well-informed and trained sales associates can enrich their shopping experience. Therefore, retailers should invest time in training their staff so that they can deal with customers across various channels.
- Utilize Customer Data To Improve Cross-Channel Experiences: Customer data is a gold mine that retailers can use to boost their sales overtime. By efficiently using important insights from this data, retailers can provide an enriched, improved purchasing experience.
