Combining online with in-store marketing

With all the hype around digital marketing and online retailing you would be forgiven for thinking that you should be plunging all your resource and budget into a solely online presence. Yet, a recent survey from Verdict Retail revealed that almost 90% of retail transaction still touch a physical store at some point. After all, as much as we, as shoppers, desire convenience we also require a tangible brand experience with personality and engagement which is often where online retailers fall short.

Successful retailers have realised that online and offline aren’t two entirely separate entities with two separate revenue streams, if integrated effectively they can work hand in hand together. Here are some actionable steps you can take to ensure your in-store campaigns are working alongside your online efforts and vice versa.

Reviews
Online retailers often proudly display both product and service reviews online through star rating systems, yet such feedback is rarely visible in-store. This often results in shoppers reaching for their smartphones and carrying out their own research. From this point on they are distracted, they may find a cheaper price online or stumble on one off-putting negative review.

So, how do you combat this? Display positive reviews in-store, try to sum up your reviews in one or two lines, for example ‘Over 80% customers had increased energy” or “90% of customers gave this product as 5 out of 5 stars.” Such statements can be incorporated into the header of an FSDU, Dump Bin or the copy of any  promotional literature.

Promotional Discounts
When shopping online we have the option of signing up to retailers marketing communications, in return for our email address and contact details we are often offered a promotional discount. Yet similar benefits are rarely advertised in-store. We can also find an array of promotional codes on affiliate websites such as Voucher Code and Voucher Cloud. If such promotions were advertised in-store it could result in a significant increase in average basket value and act as a great spending incentive during quieter periods.

Try displaying some temporary point of sale posters that highlight such offers, these can then be removed as and when required. Alternatively have your sales staff inform all customers of any potential promotions other than those already displayed in-store.

Encourage Physical Visits
Try promoting shop only discounts and events across your social media platforms to help increase in-store footfall. Alternatively produce an email campaign that targets your most loyal online customers, you could offer them the opportunity of attending an exclusive VIP event at their local store.

Use Calls to Action in-store
By inserting calls to action into your printed messaging your point of sale moves from an awareness tool to a piece of conversion copy that encourages your customers to take action. For example, you could incorporate something along the lines of the following into your FSDU, Counter Top Unit or Poster copy, “please see a member of staff for more information” or “follow us on Twitter to keep up-to-date with our latest news.”

Measure, Compare and Test
Are your online best-sellers the same as your in-store best-sellers?  If you’ve implemented a large in-store campaign supported by point of sale materials how has this faired to the online version of the campaign?  These are all questions you should be answering to get a better understanding of your customers and their spending habits.

More often than not retailers will analyse the results of pay-per-click, re-marketing and email campaigns and record ROI but in-store campaigns often don’t get the same level of analysis. Store managers need to be reviewing the effects of their point of sale displays and visual merchandising.  Try experimenting with fixtures and fittings, place items on permanent shelving units one week and then on an FSDU in a more prominent location the following week.