So, it seems while online sales continue to rise year after year, it’s not necessarily taking the place of in-store purchases. A study I referenced in a recent article about Toys R Us’ resurgence shows online sales AND retail sales are on the rise. It’s also worth noting how little e-commerce makes up of overall consumer spending. Even as the percentages of e-commerce sales rise annually, so does the amount of total revenue for the retail side of things.
This should help ease the minds of shop owners who might fear a digital surge could cut into their revenue stream. If they were smart, they might follow Bed Bath & Beyond’s lead and work some of that messaging into their marketing efforts.
Reminding potential customers why they like coming in to the store in the first place seems like low-hanging fruit as far as messaging is concerned. As referenced in the Bed Bath & Beyond ad, we’ve probably all been burned when the thing we ordered online wasn’t quite the quality you expected it to be once you held it in your hands two days later. The message certainly resonated with me.
I think having messaging echoing the other top reasons people shopped in store instead of online would intrigue others potentially on the fence. Here were the top four:
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Touch and feel items before making a purchase.
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Being able to possess that item same-day.
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Avoiding shipping costs.
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Being able to first try on an item before buying.
Of course, there are other methods that stores use/could use to increase brick and mortar traffic. One of which will drum up quite a bit of business this Friday.
Many stores are already doing their own form of “offline shopping marketing” this week, whether or not it be consciously. As Black Friday looms near, we will see first hand (well, not me) one sure-fire way to get more customers in store: offer them a deal so good they will be willing to wait in line and fight crowds, but hopefully not people, for a chance to get it!
