If you talk to major retailers in the US, it quickly becomes clear that online sales and store sales are two very different things. Several of my retail clients have online shopping operations and staff headquarters in one location, and store operations and staff in a different location, often thousands of miles away. From the retailer’s point of view, there are two very different ways to buy stuff from them.
But people don’t make those same distinctions. They buy from a brand. The big decision for the consumer is not whether to buy online at the Apple website or to make a trip to the nearest Apple store, but whether to buy an iPhone from Apple or whether to buy one from AT&T.
In fact, the act of shopping in a store now regularly includes shopping on a smartphone while shopping in the store. Here’s a common scenario:
A shopper goes to the XYZ store and finds a shirt that she likes. But the store doesn’t have the shirt in her size or in the color she wants. So, while she’s in the store, she uses her smartphone to order the shirt from the XYZ website, which ships it directly to her home.
Is that sale counted as an online sale or an in-store sale? It’s not necessarily one or the other.
Going Omnichannel
Retailers are learning that to succeed in retail today, they need to be true omnichannel retailers.
- People think shopping is fun and entertaining. They often want to go to a physical store with other people for a social experience.
- Most shoppers of all ages prefer to buy in a brick-and-mortar store.
- Even if people make their purchase online, they have often visited a store to do research before they buy.
- About half of all online sales are purchased from retailers that also have physical stores.
- People will often research a product online and then purchase it in a store. Their research includes looking at products at different websites, reading reviews, and comparing prices. This researching online and then purchasing in a store is called “webrooming.”
- People will sometimes go to a store and then, while in the store, use their smartphone to look for a better price for the product they pick out. They may then order that product online. This going first to a store and then checking out prices in other places is called “showrooming.”
Takeaways
- Break yourself of thinking of online shopping versus store shopping. Think omnichannel instead.
- Make it easy for people to shop your entire brand, whether in a store or online.
- Conduct research with your target audience to discover what makes shopping fun for the products you sell.
- Conduct research with your target audience to discover what the entire shopping process looks like for your customers. Evaluate whether you have a seamless online/store experience.
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