IN-STORE - FITFORCOMMERCE
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In-Store
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Over the past years, several major retailers have announced store
closings and bankruptcies or declining store sales. While the bulk
of retail sales still come from physical stores, traditional retailers
are feeling the pressure to drive more foot traffic, increase in-store
sales, and encourage customers to return.
BURNING QUESTIONS
• Is physical retail really dying?
• How can I reinvent the in-Store experience?
• What tools do I need to create more engaging in-store experiences?
Today’s shoppers move between physical
and digital worlds interchangeably – often DID YOU KNOW?
interacting with multiple touchpoints and
devices before making an actual purchase. As Even though ecommerce sales in the US continue
a result, expectations of the in-store shopping to increase year over year, over 90 percent of all
experience have shifted. For consumers, retail sales transactions still occur in the physical
especially younger shoppers, convenience and retail store.63
experience are front and center when it comes
to shopping. Retailers are forced to face this new
shopping reality head on and take steps to reinvent the in-store shopping experience. The retailers that
come out ahead will be those who innovate by unifying their growing online presence with an experiential
physical environment.
SEEN IN THE FIELD
Many of today’s most popular
direct-to-consumer, digital native
brands are launching physical
stores, including Casper, Away
and Glossier.
In-Store | 104 © 2019
To meet customer demands, most retailers start by driving traffic to stores from digital channels and
introducing omnichannel retail best practices, such as Buy Online/Return In-Store (BORIS). But these
services are already table stakes (BORIS is already offered by 92 percent of retailers in the FitForCommerce
Omnichannel Retail Index) and are no longer enough to “save” the traditional retailer. All signs point to the
necessity for creating more engaging shopping environments that infuse digital into the physical store.
DRIVING STORE TRAFFIC FROM DIGITAL
• Online research • Buy online/pick up in store (BOPIS)
• Digital store coupons • Mobile and proximity alerts
• Emails or text messages • Social media mentions
• Online store inventory lookup
OUR TAKE: You’ve got to step up your game
The retail store is not dead. But, you must step up your game to meet the expectations of today’s digitally-savvy
shoppers. That means introducing new digital in-store technologies that bridge online and in-store shopping
experiences and providing better training and tools for store associates.
SEEN IN THE FIELD
The acquisition of Modcloth,
Moosejaw, Shoebuy and Bonobos
has provided Walmart with a greater
stake in the digital marketplace,
access to higher-profit categories
and more affluent shoppers. This
strategy, combined with a huge
portfolio of stores as pickup
destinations is designed to meet
shopper expectations of blending
physical and digital shopping.
In-Store | 105 © 2019
TOOLS AND TRICKS OF THE TRADE
IN-STORE TECHNOLOGIES
Modern technologies can help retailers optimize efficiencies
and bring down operational costs, bring digital into stores, and 1. POS
empower associates to provide better and more personalized 2. CRM
customer assistance. But, many retailers struggle to identify
3. Mobile
where to start, the resources needed, and the technologies to
best support the effort. 4. Sales Enablement/Clienteling
5. Interactive/Digital Signage
OUR TAKE: Weigh the Cost/Benefits
While the right blend of technology can elevate in-store experiences, drive sales and empower store associates,
deploying the latest innovative technology does not necessarily boost the bottom line. Retailers should carefully
weigh the cost/benefits of implementing new in-store technologies and develop pilot programs that allow them
to test before implementing across the entire store footprint.
Point-of-Sale Solutions (POS)
As the name implies, ‘point-of-sale’ (POS) refers to the time and place of a transaction. Often cloud-based
and allowing for real-time data access and easy integration with other retail platforms in the ecosystem,
modern POS systems offer a wide range of features, including inventory management, customer data
capture, loyalty program management, and employee productivity tracking.
OUR TAKE: Trust the experts
POS is a system that you would never develop in-house. Produce a formal requirements package that
documents your in-store selling service, management pain points, and business needs. As you search for
software that matches your needs, consider how you want to deploy the POS solution (in-store, hosted, or
SaaS). There are advantages and disadvantages to each deployment model.
According to recent studies, shoppers’ biggest frustration with shopping in physical retail stores is waiting
in long lines. Yet, retailers have been slow to adopt technologies that allow line busting to make checkout
faster and more convenient for shoppers. Retailers can easily and quickly implement solutions, such as
mobile POS to help them meet these customer demands.
In-Store | 106 © 2019
REDUCE SHOPPER FRUSTRATION
WITH LINE BUSTING HEARD IN THE FIELD
• Self-checkout • Scan & Go (Amazon Go)
“The checkout process is currently the
Macy’s single biggest pain point,” Jeff
• Mobile POS • Pay in App
Gennette, CEO, Macy’s, Bank of America
• Pre-order online Merrill Lynch Global Consumer & Retail
Technology Conference in New York City
Mobile POS systems (mPOS) leverage mobile devices instead of fixed checkout terminals, allowing store
associates to service shoppers anywhere in the store environment. By providing such mobility to the
associate, retailers can create a more appealing and personal shopping experience – from line busting
(check out on the floor) to saving a sale with endless aisle capabilities – looking up and placing orders for
sold out inventory or inventory only sold at other stores or online.
To further expedite the checkout process, several
big retailers – including Amazon, Walmart, Kroger DID YOU KNOW?
and Starbucks - have introduced mobile apps
to accelerate the checkout process by enabling • 73 percent of shoppers want mPOS for
sales associates to checkout anywhere on the quicker checkout times.64
floor and, in some cases, even enabling customer
self-checkout.
OUR TAKE: Go 360
If your business is multichannel, consider viewing POS as another order- taking channel. A POS system that
supports the same customer experience (pricing, promotions, products, loyalty, gift cards, order history, etc.) as
your other sales channels reflects the centrality of the customer to your business. Your customer can shop from
you on the web, contact center, or store and receive a consistent and seamless experience.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
The CRM system is essential to optimizing the in-store experience, as it allows for more personalized services.
By providing access to customer information and purchase history, the individual store and store associates
have a 360-degree view of the customer, which allows them to provide personalized recommendations,
offer special services to VIP customers, and resolve customer service issues.
In-Store | 107 © 2019Sales Enablement/Clienteling
Store associates play a critical role in the shopping
DID YOU KNOW?
journey. Yet, most are not empowered to deliver
the level of service that customers expect. They
are simply not equipped with the tools, data, and • 61 percent of shoppers would rather use a
training necessary. kiosk than speak with a sales associate.65
Constant access to product information via their
mobile phones, combined with unsatisfactory experiences with store associates, has led shoppers to
prefer to use their own devices over engaging with a store associate. To combat this trend, smart retailers
provide store associates access to better information and mobile clienteling tools, empowering them to
proactively provide better customer experiences.
OUR TAKE: Don’t let shoppers out-stage you
Shoppers are often better-informed regarding product selection, product details, and promotions than the store
associate. A few bad experiences, and they’ll stop consulting the associate all together. Invest in training and
provide the tools that enable your sales associates to provide exceptional customer service.
Beyond mobile POS, the greatest opportunity for enhancing the shopping experience is arming associates
with user-friendly tools that allow them to engage and guide shoppers by using customer data insights,
inventory visibility, and access to merchandising content.
Sales enablement (or clienteling) tools range from basic applications built by the retailer that focus on
one or two services, such as mobile checkout and inventory lookup to highly sophisticated clienteling
platforms that truly empower store associates to bring the store experience to the next level.
Ideally, clienteling tools should integrate with other systems in the ecosystem, such as CRM, the ecommerce
platform, order management, inventory systems, and content management, to enable endless aisle,
cross sells, personalized offers, product information, reviews, and more.
DID YOU KNOW?
Only 15 percent of retailers equip their sales associates with mobile devices to assists customers while
browsing the store.66
In-Store | 108 © 2019Mobile (Shoppers)
The use of mobile by consumers continues to increase – both at home, on-the-go and in-store. Prior to
making an in-store purchase, shoppers typically visit a retailer’s site or app or use a search engine to
research products and brand on their mobile devices. While in the store, shoppers use their mobile device
to find more product info, review, competitive pricing, etc.
HOW CONSUMERS USE MOBILE IN-STORE
$
$$
$$
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Look up info Compare pricing Check Reviews Get advice from friends
OUR TAKE: Turn mobile into your strongest asset
One of the greatest advantages of mobile is that it bridges online and offline experiences. Mobile can drive traffic
to stores and elevate in-store experiences. Understand how your customers use their mobile devices and build
programs around those habits and behaviors.
Retailers can turn mobile in-store activities into opportunities to reach and engage shoppers by:
• Making it easy to find information via mobile
• Using mobile for loyalty programs
• Delivering relevant offers and content
• Offering options to view and buy out-of-stock items
• Enabling store associates to deliver better and more personalized customer service
• Leveraging new technologies such as in-store beacons to collect real-time customer data
In-Store | 109 © 2019Smart retailers realize that they cannot stop shoppers
from using their smartphones in stores, and therefore, DID YOU KNOW?
welcome this behavior by offering free wifi access. This
tactic is paying off. Research shows that customers who • 92 percent of shoppers prefer stores that
use mobile in stores are more likely to make a purchase offer mobile experiences.67
in the store. Yet, according to a recent study, only 39
percent of retailers in the US offer customer wifi in
stores and 22 percent have no plans to implement it.68
DID YOU KNOW?
Another way to turn shoppers’ use of mobile in stores
into a competitive advantage is to leverage beacons or 82 percent of smartphone users consult
location-based sensors to gather data about in-store their phones on purchases they are about
shopping behaviors and encourage sales through to make in-store and 45 percent read
proximity-based, triggered messages. Although reviews before making a purchase.69
location-based technologies show promising results
for personalization and targeted offers, retailers have
not been as quick to adopt these technologies as was originally expected. In a recent study, only 10
percent of retailers stated they had implemented location-based sensor technologies for marketing and
communication and 40 percent had no plans to implement the technology in the near future.
Future expectations from shoppers include the ability to look up size and colors without engaging with a
sales associate, augmented reality features that let them preview products in their homes, and location
features that will provide them with in-store maps based on their digital shopping lists. The technology for
these services already exist. The adoption rate is still low, and the ROI not completely proven, but smart and
proactive retailers are experimenting to find the best approach.
SEEN IN THE FIELD
Nike Inc. is using its mobile app to remake
and rethink the in-store experience by
letting consumers use the brand’s app
to check out on their smartphones, scan
articles of clothing to be delivered to
dressing rooms and reserve items to
pick up in lockers.The brand launched
the first of its app-integrated Nike
stores in Los Angeles last July and in its
68,000-square-foot, six-floor New York
City flagship store in November.
In-Store | 110 © 2019Interactive Store Signage, Mirrors, Augmented/Virtual Reality Some retailers have raised the bar when it comes to in-store shopping experiences, experimenting with interactive and intelligent mirrors, digital pricing, robots, and virtual reality/augmented reality applications. Even though it is still too early to truly gauge the effectiveness of these innovative features, retailers should not shy away from bringing digital signage, touchscreens, kiosks, or other interactive tools into the store. SEEN IN THE FIELD Nordstrom is investing heavily in engaging customers with highly experiential store environment. The new Men’s Store in New York City takes the shopping experience up a notch by blending high tech and service. The store offers the option to buy online and pick up in-store 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It also offers reserve online and try in-store, three-hour same-day delivery, personal stylists, digital personal stylists though Style Board, tailor shops, shoe shining, cell phone charging, a bar and a coffee shop. Nordstrom Local is a ~2500 square foot “store” that has no merchandise. Instead, Nordstrom Local is used for BOPIS pick up, returns, tailoring, and other services. Although digital and interactive displays can require robust and integrated technology as well as a significant hardware investment, retailers that offer these tools are one step closer to providing a more innovative and differentiated shopping experience. OUR TAKE: Store experiences are not just digital From niche players like Lululemon and Casper to larger brands and retailers like Nordstrom and Nike, store formats are shifting, focusing on experiences to drive traffic and engage shoppers. Your stores can be your greatest differentiators. Understand what your customers value and create experiences that will delight them while showcasing your expertise. In-Store | 111 © 2019
Other retailers are slow to adopt even simple signage. In-store signage (both digital and printed) that
provide in-store advertising, promote social media channels, mobile apps, and even a simple ecommerce
URL, are only seen at 44 percent of retailers surveyed by FitForCommerce. That leaves over half of
retailers missing out on the opportunity to promote products, cross-promote channels, and provide
omnichannel services.70
OUR TAKE: The data byproduct
In addition to enabling a more engaging customer experience, digital initiatives in stores allow you to capture
data that is otherwise unavailable. It’s a win/win wherein you can use this newfound data to optimize your store
layout, inventory planning, personalized communications, and tailored offers.
SEEN IN THE FIELD
Target recently launched the Target Beauty Studio, an AR technology tool that is integrated into
select brick-and-mortar stores and on its desktop and mobile site. The feature allows consumers to
virtually experiment with products and shades before making a purchase. As part of the program,
Target also introduced a concierge service that provides advice and product recommendations
from Target representatives through text message or a chat tool on the website.
In-Store | 112 © 2019SPOTLIGHT ON DATA Digital commerce has the advantage that everything can be captured, tracked, and analyzed, from a customer’s browsing behavior, to her purchase history and preferences. This is a bit harder to do in-store, but it is just as important. Baseline store analytics range from store traffic counters and customer conversion analysis tools based on sales. More sophisticated tools measure in-store traffic and customer path analysis through sensors, heat-mapping and beacons. Savvy retailers leverage a new breed of in-store analytics that link customers’ online purchase history with their in-store activity, providing deeper customer insights that are fed into the overall system of record. These systems provide a complete 360-view of the customer, regardless of channel, and enable retailers to personalize the entire customer experience. Smart retailers can also leverage web analytics to improve store performance. Crate & Barrel, for instance, makes sure that store merchant teams have insight into web analytics to better understand what people are searching for and how people look at products from an artistic perspective. To improve and personalize the in-store experience, retailers can benefit from implementing tools that provide sales associate with access to customer and product data. Real-time data enables them to provide service that truly support the customer’s needs such as finding inventory, promotions, sharing product content and completing a transaction. Arm associates with insights into: • Purchase history • Browsing habits • Customer preferences • Inventory across channels • Merchandising content – style guides, videos, etc. • In-store sensors to track traffic patterns and shopping behaviors In-Store | 113 © 2019
THIS REPORT IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY
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ChannelAdvisor has been on the front lines of e-commerce since 2001, helping retailers and brands connect
with customers, optimize operations and grow sales channels. We’ve grown from a small company in a
young industry to an industry leader at the forefront of a global revolution — with thousands of clients and
billions of dollars in transactional revenue flowing through our platform every year. For more information,
visit channeladvisor.com
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that works with major consumer brands to employ digital commerce to increase sales, gain valuable
consumer insight and create the type of end-to-end experiences that build loyalty and keep brands ahead
of the competition. Learn more at adweek.com and brandshop.comREFERENCES
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DOORSTEP
FitForCommerce is a leading boutique consultancy that helps hundreds of online and multichannel brands
and retailers make informed digital, ecommerce and omnichannel retail investment decisions. Leveraging
years of experience, state-of-the-art tools, strategic diligence and tactical planning, FitForCommerce helps
brands and retailers define strategies for growth, improve the customer experience, plan and hire the right
organization, and find "best fit" technology solutions. | www.fitforcommerce.comYou can also read
