Andrew Neenan
Regional Sales Manager, Elavon in Ireland
Understand the main reasons customers want to visit a shop to help you improve your business and cater to modern shoppers.
The main reasons to visit a bricks-and-mortar shop are the ability to see an item and assess its quality in person, according to research carried out on behalf of Elavon.
Benefits of in-store shopping for customers
When we questioned more than 1,000 adults, 72% said the top reason to encourage a visit to a physical store was seeing what they were about to buy. Meanwhile, 61% said they like to assess the quality of products, and more than half (57%) said they would be encouraged to shop in-store if they needed something urgently.
“These insights drive home the importance of design in your store. Make sure shoppers can see and even handle the products they are thinking about buying,” says Andrew Neenan, Regional Sales Manager at Elavon in Ireland. “It’s not enough to just show them what’s available; let them get close enough to assess quality and value for money.”
Almost one in five (19%) like
the option to click and collect.
Omnicommerce: all-channel ecommerce approach
Other survey results highlight that almost one in five (19%) like the option to click and collect — where shoppers buy online and collect in-store. They can pay as they order or on collection, perhaps at a dedicated time, from a dedicated place in-store to reduce queues and make it a convenient and smooth transaction for them — and the business.
This offers an opportunity to expand your retail business into a so-called ‘omnicommerce’ model — mixing real-life interactions with ecommerce options to take advantage of this market.
After all, if you are offering click-and-collect, you’ve got another opportunity to sell things when customers visit your shop while using the power of the internet to widen your market reach.