The approach of your retail strategy as a quick and forgettable one means bad news for your business, whether it is a brick and mortar experience or an online one. The so-called “Don’t dwell, just buy” strategy is a common mistake when addressing the retail’s customer journey and it is one to erase from our notepads altogether. Attracting your customers and enhancing their experience to make it last must be your top one priority.
Dwelling time is the term used to describe the amount of time spent by a customer inside a store or a site. The goal of a retail company must be to make them “want” to stay more. The more they stay within your business, the more they will remember.
The aim of the stores should be to compel and attract their customers to spend more time in it, not due to a lack of order, but because of the atmosphere. Hence, here you have some tips to engage your consumers and enhance the retail’s customer journey to make it unforgettable.
More dwelling time might mean more conversions, capitalize from it
If you are in the retail business and you sell clothes, shoes or food, more dwelling time may mean more conversions for your company, as the customer is exposed for a longer period of time to your goods. Nowadays, consumers are looking for emotional connections and engagement with the store, the site and the people working in it. Thinking outside the box is always the best first step to approach this issue and how to engage your audience. Reflect about your product and consider what items you can add to your store for a compelling experience.
A small check-list of tips to increase dwelling times in your business is as follows:
- Your store will benefit from a free wi-fi connection or, at least, receiving a good network, as it ensures that, whenever your customers want to get online in your store, they can. In the online case, your loading speed and response times must be bullet-proof.
- A good organization is key. In the case of your brick and mortar store, create a good planogram -a visual representation of where products in a store should be situated- and organize everything within a logical sense. In the case of your site, never underestimate a tidy menu and don’t overflow it with drop-down options. Be clear, concise and make the information be found without effort and just due to logical sense.
- Engage with them through participation and rewards. Make them play, use Virtual Reality to enhance the experience in the brick and mortar store and compel them with gaming in your site. If they feel compelled to play, they will spend more worthy time within your web site and they will remember it.
Address every touchpoint of the retail’s customer journey and offer brand interaction
Create a customer journey map and be aware of every touchpoint of the experience you are offering. Other than the sales funnel phases already described by the experts –awareness, consideration, preference and purchase– you should approach every milestone as a whole.
In the retail’s customer journey of today the touchpoints are more numerous than ever. Therefore it is imperative not to neglect the details, which can make or break your success. The Internet Of Things (IOT) interactions and tools such as Augmented Reality have changed the playing ground. That is why keeping up means being aware of the latest trends. If your goal is to attract them further after every touchpoint, you have to properly address the experience your site offers and the interaction it requires.
Let the customer lead the journey and hear them out
Empower your customers and make them choose within the store. Allow them to make good choices so they feel in synergy with the brand. Don’t be afraid to show your brand and your values. Make them know them by heart if you have to, it can help you in creating long-term consumers.
Retail’s customer journey is all about encouraging the customer to find the answer. So here is a quick tip: never underestimate the power of a good 24/7 Live Chat offering immediate answers and advise.
Avail yourself of top notch customer support services and offer them 24/7, as an online buyer may have any inquiry even at 4 am in the morning, so it is your duty to be able to provide that in order to offer a seamless experience. They will lead the journey, but they want to know that you can be with them all along the way.
Arema Connect can help you in this area. We are a leader outsourcing provider with more than 17 years of experience in local and international markets. Through our customer support services, we are able to get your customers to the finish line.
Social media: the customer journey in retail is not over once the transaction is made
Encourage the consumer to continue the interaction in the realm of social media. Entice them to review your site so you can locate the soft spots, incite them to follow your Instagram and make them like you on Facebook. To assure that your customer feels attracted to the idea of doing any of these, you have to offer an engaging content and a consolidated controlling idea throughout all of your networks. Here you have some ideas:
- Start a blog, fill it with content and nurture all of your social media accounts.
- Be multimedia, visual and millennial: create videos (even vertical ones), share gif’s and infographics.
- Create a fit strategy for each platform. It doesn’t make sense if your Twitter doesn’t follow a common theme or if you don’t interact with your audience, don’t use Facebook just for the pictures (remember the Live’s!) and think that Instagram is one of the most used social networks by people in their mid 20s.
- Know who you are talking to and adapt your retail’s customer journey and discourse to your target audience.
- Make some kind of contest to win something every now and them. Run competitions to increase engagement.
Arema Connect has been providing social media monitoring for more than 4 years. We can help you to grow your brand by absorbing its values and create an expansion strategy to go with it. We can manage your publication schedules and the interaction with your users in a timely manner and with excellent etiquette.
Don’t neglect the user experience of your site
We have already talked about the loading speed and the server needs of a good online selling point. Though the user experience is much more than just that. In the retail’s customer journey, get yourself a User Experience (UX) designer to create a seamless experience throughout your site. It has to be quick, nice, engaging, thorough, accurate, fast…
About Sabela Rey
I am a Communications and Media graduate working as an intern at Arema Connect. I studied at the University of Santiago de Compostela and I also have a background in Film Studies and Research. Throughout my professional experience, I have worked in Marketing departments in different organizations. Here at Arema Connect I support the Marketing department with their campaigns. After my time in Cork I plan to further my experience in international and challenging environments.
