More customers in brick-and-mortar retail

Find out:

• Why is brick-and-mortar retail continuing to lose customers?
• How can you convince your customers of brick-and-mortar retail again?
• Why mPocket has the right solutions for you?

Why some customers are still staying away

The Corona pandemic in particular has caused a great deal of problems for brick-and-mortar retailers, with shops closed for weeks and months. Many smaller stores quickly had to make friends with an online sales solution in order not to sit on their goods and running costs. But even before the pandemic, which is stalling trade and the whole world, the influence of digitalization on trade has already become apparent. The steady growth of e-commerce, the sudden increase in marketplaces and the unrestricted dominance of the online retailer Amazon are of course also noticeable in the shops. Certainly, online retail also has its advantages for customers, especially in terms of the simplicity of product search up to ordering, the 27/4 opening hours and the convenience that everything can be done on your digital device directly from the couch in the living room at home. However, a study form 2019 by Axis Communications in cooperation with Ipsos and GfK clearly showed that brick-and-mortar retail is still very important and present for people. Only 10% of the 2,500 shoppers surveyed, aged 16 to 64, said they only buy online. While 14% indicated that they only shop in brick-and-mortar stores. The majority of 76% confirmed that they shop equally through both channels. Another study found that almost half (46%) of the 5,000 consumers surveyed would even be willing to change their shopping habits from pure online shopping and would also shop at a brick-and-mortar retailer with automation technology.

Stationary retail is still in demand

As the study has shown, brick-and-mortar retail is far from being dead, but rather still in high demand among customers. One of the biggest arguments for brick-and-mortar retail remains the possibility that you can see, touch and try products directly live and in color. In addition, you can take the products home directly in brick-and-mortar stores without waiting days or weeks for your product delivery. Another important argument is personal customer advice, which is not offered in normal online retail. The advice, in which your salespeople take time for your customers and advise them personally, respond to requests and answer product questions directly. But the atmosphere, the set-up and the feeling that your store can offer your customers also stands out from an online shopping experience. Shopping in brick-and-mortar retail is more of a way for your customers to enjoy social activities, it is an event, an experience. Your customers want to be emotionally addressed and hope for a shopping experience adapted to their person, their needs and interests. They also want to be offered your service and the shopping experience you offer, regardless of whether they are on their smartphone in their own living room or in your shop.

Convince your customers seamlessly from your business with mPocket

But what the study also shows is that your customers prefer to use both online and offline, so you should be able to offer them both. With mPocket’s Connected Store solution, you can continue to personally advise, answer questions and show products to your customers in-store, but also outside via Messenger Chat or Live Chat. Thanks to the Click&Collect possibilities with mPocket, your customers can order products online and pick them up directly in the store. In addition, products can also be reserved online in the local store for the customer. With these digital, seamless solutions, you can get your customers to visit you again directly in your brick-and-mortar stores. It is especially the convenience of online retail that people have learned to appreciate over time.  With mPocket you can automate your store from product search to payment. Let customers scan QR codes to get product information and availability, extended store counter, give advice and allow payments directly via smartphone. With mPocket you bring the online comfort into your brick-and-mortar store and create a unique shopping experience for your customers – whether offline, online or in between.

In the early months of 2020, also due to the Nationwide lockdown with the temporary closures in the retail trade, customers were mostly absent, especially in the brick-and-mortar stores for non-food trade. Even now, with the mandatory hygiene measures, the possible risk of infection and the advancing digitalization, not all customers have yet to return to the shops of our inner cities.

Convince your customers of your brick-and-mortar retail!