Here’s a tip if you want to succeed in retail: no customers are the same. You may have a general target audience, but you can’t expect all of them to have the same likes and dislikes. This is why it so important to make the buying experience personal.
According to a report from Oracle, 81 percent of customers will pay more for a great customer experience – an experience that will make them feel like the business is knows and is listening to them, rather than seeing them as merely numbers to a spreadsheet.
So how do you personalise a retail buying experience? How do you know where they’re at exactly in the buying process, so you can deliver their needs using proper communication channels based on the stage they’re currently in?
Here is the general buying process of a retail customer:
- Need
- Research
- Select
- Buy
- Receive
- Use
- Maintain
- Recommend
In every stage they are in, there is an opportunity for the business to market their product and gain sales. For example, when a customer needs a product and he sees it online, the next thing that he will do is research about this product to find out what brand is the most quality, what shop is selling it in the cheapest price, which shipping options are the best, what deals he/she can get, etc. This then gives business a chance to offer a great deal and move
this lead from a prospect buyer to a paying customer.
So how do business owners make sure that they can reach out to potential customers in every step of the buying process? The answer is digital in-store technology. This type of technology allows retailers to provide what the customers need, when they need it.
Here are some of the digital in-store technology that you must check out:
In-store browse or quote. One of the solutions to move store customers from “just looking” to “buying” is to be able to send them an email of the things they looked at in the store, so they can get more information about these things for future perusal.
Big retailers including Restoration Hardware have made this possible by equipping their store associates with devices such as tablets to be able to send customers a personalised email of the things they were interested in in the store. The emails contain relevant information such as pricing, features, deals, etc.
Geo-fencing. As of February 2015, Australian smartphone penetration is almost at 90% . This means that 9 out of 10 people own a smartphone and are the perfect target to geo-fencing retailer opportunities. By tapping on the Geo-fencing capabilities of smartphones, businesses can now offer location-specific deals to customers, that can help remind them of in-store promotions when they are nearby.
QR Code Scan. In case you’re not familiar with the term, a QR Code is a machine-readable code typically used for storing URLs or other information for reading by the camera on a smartphone. QR Codes make it easier for customers to store information of the deals & products they see in-store, especially if they aren’t ready to make a purchase just yet.
Customers only need to take a photo of a QR code, and the information about the product will now be stored in the smartphone.
iBeacon. iBeacon is Apple’s new and powerful tool when it comes to location-based retailer deals. Similar to geo-fencing, Apple can detect whether the customer is browsing in-store. In fact, the tool has the capability to know what department exactly is the customer browsing at, so they can send deals / product info through notifications / mobile push technology.
eRecepit. Last but not the least is eReceipt. When the store offers the eReceipt option, this gives the business an opportunity to put the customers in the post-purchase program. In a blog we wrote a few weeks back, we explained that the sales process do not end at the customer purchasing the product, because there are always ways to have them re-purchase or refer a new customer.
Business owners and marketers alike must always lookout for the opportunities to make the buying experience of the leads personal and enjoyable. This is the only way they will go from being a potential buyer to a paying customer. The stages in the buying process offers these opportunities and the digital in-store technology makes it easier for retailers.
So, which of the technology mentioned above are you most interested in having for your business? Let us know in the comments below!