Introduction
A 2018 report suggests that US retail sales for online would grow by 15% while the in-store sales would grow by 2% in 2019. Even with the drastic increase in e-commerce sales, the physical stores are far from losing their relevance as they make up 89% of the total spend.
Can one channel truly exist without the other? In today’s day and age, success is measured through an omnichannel experience. As Amazon makes the move to brick and mortar stores, it’s evident that both online and in-store experiences matter.
Working towards an omnichannel business is aligned with the goal of building a seamless customer experience. The brand experience, regardless of where the customer engages, should be the consistent and memorable. To deliver a consistent experience, every channel (digital and physical) must be operating at peak performance.
In this blog, we discuss how retailers can enhance and differentiate in-store customer experience to stay competitive and relevant.
Understand customer interactions
To increase footfall at retail stores, current footfall needs to be calculated. Many stores use point of sale (POS) systems to record in-store sales. This helps them capture customer data and figure out the average value of each customer. However, not everyone who visits the store makes a purchase.
This means while POS can help you understand the average value of a customer, it cannot help you track footfall nor calculate by how much to increase footfall to achieve the sales you require. The latter requires knowledge of the number of prospective customers coming through the store before someone actually purchases a product.
WiFi analytics can help address this by tracking footfall. If customers are actively connected to the WiFi, a captive login portal can track their movement throughout the store. This raises an important question of privacy. The terms and conditions regarding privacy and data regulations can be laid out and presented to the customer upon login.
Improving store layout
Another crucial aspect of understanding the customer lies in the small details. Here is how knowing your footfall can actually improve your footfall.
Footfall outside the store
Key metrics to focus on here are visibility, appeal and promotions. Are your displays attractive? Is your entrance easily accessible? Are you promoting discounts and exciting offers where customers pass by? Being able to see and understand where and why customers pass but don’t enter is important.
Footfall inside the store
Now that customers are inside the store, how are they moving around? Which are their preferred departments, what aisles do they frequent? What are their points of entry and exit? All of this can be used to make the store more appealing to drive more footfall and higher conversion rates.
Personalize marketing
With customer details captured upon connecting to WiFi, information such as name, date of birth, hometown, contact details, and more become available. Using this data wisely will ensure increased footfall.
How to use the data captured
1. Merging existing CRM records of customers with the new data updates and makes real-time changes to the profiles of customers in the system, who have made purchases in the past. This will enable personalized messaging based on their purchase history, interests, and demographics.
2. The data collected can be used to market to new prospective customers who have logged onto your WiFi, but haven’t made a purchase. Sending them messages/emails about the sale coming up around the weekend would go a long way in driving footfall. Better yet, offer exclusive discounts and vouchers on purchase.
Leveraging data captured through WiFi analytics helps increase conversion rate. In the long run, you are giving customers what they want based on existing data and fostering loyalty.
At Savantis, we address the unique business needs of retailers through innovation and deep knowledge, aided by intelligent cloud-based systems like SAMMY. SAMMY by Savantis helps track footfall while also helping you connect and engage with customers effectively. You can measure engagement levels and act accordingly. We help simplify the delivery of store specific information and advertising/marketing campaigns, communicating in real-time with your personnel.
Feel free to reach out to us for more information.
