Be More Ready for Holiday Shopping
It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the (Retail) Year
If you, like most retailers, have watched your sales stay steady through the year, you should be excited now--holiday shopping is here to boost your bottom line before the end of the year! 54% of surveyed consumers said they begin their holiday shopping in October so if you aren’t ready, read up!
Take Advantage of Reverse Showrooming
As recently as 5 years ago, brick and mortar retailers were afraid of the impact online shopping had on their businesses. Tech-savvy shoppers turned to online retailers to research and purchase items. The great news for you (not so much for the online retailers) is that that trend has shifted; customers are now “reverse showrooming”, going online to research products before seeking out an in-store shopping experience with the product.
Reverse showrooming has several advantages for your business:
Get them online
If you have avoided getting a website for your business, you can’t avoid it any longer. Reverse showrooming means people are looking for products and if you sell them, you have to be able to be found in order to annouce that you are carrying the product they are looking for. If you have a website but don’t update it regularly, you’re also missing out. A “stale” website that is online but not updated or doesn’t show products will help people find you but the extra steps on the part of the customer to email or call you about the product they are interested in has a high potential for losing their business to someone who clearly promotes the product information consumers want.
Sellr Websites are quick to build (with no graphic design or coding experience needed), easy to update, and mobile friendly. Click here to learn more.
In-store service
The advantage you have as a brick and mortar store is the ability for customers to touch and feel a product before buying and asking questions before purchase. These are basic, must-have expectations for consumers but if you take the initiative to create a highly personalized experiences, you can solidify your reputation with the customer and increase in-store spending. People are willing to pay more for highly personalized experiences. Some ideas for increased personalization:
- Offer shopping appointments--the holidays are busy. Offer guaranteed one-on-one time with a sales associate. (Bonus, you are able to gather customer data for future engagement and personalization.)
- Host customer exclusive events--feeling like you’re a part of a special club, and getting special perks because of it, increases loyalty.
- Encourage shopping--being able to spend time with friends and family is part of the joy of holiday shopping. Create a kid-friendly family even that encourages kid’s purchase of Mom and Dad’s gifts, offer holiday pampering like manicures or massages (or both!) for girl’s night, or create a pop-up shop in office buildings during lunch.
Get Them Into Your Store
Surveys show that 60% of women and 46% of men go online to find coupon codes or other discounts. The high percentages translate to a high chance of them coming in to take advantage of these promotions (instead of shopping where they won’t get special treatment). While customers appreciate the convenience of search and shop, they don’t like the cost of it. Shipping costs and other charges of online shopping translate to a 66% cart abandon rate--and the customer has to pay for that. Sellr customer, Good Times, told us how much customers appreciate the ability to walk out of the door with their product in hand. Owner Carmen said, “They leave here with that product right in their hand ready to go”.
Of course being in-store gives you the opportunity to take advantage of upselling. Sellr Interactive Tablets have helped increase Good Times’ sales. “A lot of the recipes require more than one bottle and they’ll buy everything that’s listed on that recipe off the Sellr [Interactive Tablet]. So, that increases the sales. It’s generally a two to three bottle purchase versus one.”
Holiday Shopping Transformation
There are no assigned roles in Christmas shopping anymore. Customers are in control. They demand choice, convenience, value. They have the tools available to them to research their purchases. Retailers must deliver consistent and rich experiences across multiple channels to earn the business of these savvy shoppers.
Your online presence is your “always open” store that can promote your store to the people who are looking for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you aren’t online, you will be passed by. Reach out to the customer throughout the shopping experience by being there when they are looking for you online, offering customer service at all touchpoints, and delivering an in-store shopping experience that will bring them back into the new year.
Renee Clare-Kovacs is the Content Marketing Strategist at Sellr. She is passionate about creating digital marketing strategies that help business owners develop successful relationships with customers and vendors.
