The holiday shopping season is upon us – for a lot of retailers this is one of the most important times of the year for annual revenues. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF) winter holiday spending are second only to back-to-college spending. On average, people spend $997 per person during holiday spending events. The NRF is forecasting retail sales from November 1 through December 31 to average between $755.3 – $766.7 billion. Yes, that’s billion with a ‘B’.

So how do we capitalize on consumer spending this season?

In-store vs. online sales

Brick and mortar stores have been a staple of the American economy for over a century. Only since 2007 have brick-and-mortar stores held the majority of holiday shopping revenues, losing their lead in 2019. In 2020 stores saw a record low amount of in-person sales, dipping to 39% of all sales.

This can likely be attributed to the shift in American shopping culture as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021 in-store purchases have seen a slight increase to 43%, but are still lagging behind online shopping. But what does this mean for in-person shopping?

There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on people’s shopping habits, but this does not mean that all in-store sales are lost.

Bridging the Gap

In recent articles we covered subjects like SEO vs. SEM and the basics of data analytics, but we haven’t covered how to bridge the gap between online marketing and in-store conversions.

In the wake of COVID-19 a lot of retailers had to make the switch from in-store to online sales. For many this switch had to be done quickly; online sales were either not a primary method or even a method of revenue at all. That means that stores have not had a chance to truly understand how to make the most out of online stores, digital marketing, and maintaining in-person sales.

So how do we bridge the gap? How do we know which in-store sales are a result of our digital marketing campaigns? Those are two great questions that we are going to work to answer.

Using SEO and UX to Bridge The Gap

Bridging the gap is easier than it may seem. It may not come as much of a surprise, but the same skills you use to create conversions on your website apply to creating in person conversions.

Think of where you might start when you want to buy a product – especially if you don’t know who sells it. No, the answer isn’t the Yellow Pages (that one is for our more seasoned readers). The majority of online sales start with a search – like Google. In fact, according to Search Engine Journal around 70% of sales start with search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo.

Now that your potential customer has found your website, because you were ranked at the top after learning some great skills from our other articles or by contacting us to create a great marketing strategy (hint…hint) we have to convince them to stick around. Well, that isn’t so hard, as long as you have a well designed website that is attractive, easily navigable, and provides a good representation of your product(s).

So, how exactly does your website have anything to do with in-person sales? As we have discussed in previous articles, your website is often the first impression customers have with you and your business. Just like in-person first impressions, you want want “dress to impress” with your website. What are some ways to offer a great first-impression on a website?

• High quality images
• Images that are accurate to the products
• Easy navigation
• Good product descriptions
• Engaging content

Closing The Deal

Ok, so you’ve peaked someone’s interest with a great website and digital advertising. Just like your website needs to be top quality, so does your brick-and-mortar store.

Your customer’s experience with both your website and your store need to be similar. If your website has high quality pictures of products that don’t accurately reflect what you have in-store, customers will be less likely to make any in-store or online purchases.

Inversely, if your website accurately reflects your storefront, then customers who visit your store are more likely to make a purchase. Why? If what drove them to your store was your website and online marketing communications, then they are likely already there, ready to make a purchase.

Tracking In-Person Sales Conversions

Tracking in-person sales conversions is one of the hardest things to do, but there are a couple of tried and true methods for both accurate and semi-accurate data.

Ask them

When customers make a purchase, especially if they are a new customer, ask them to go online and fill out a brief survey. Make sure you make it worth their time by offering a discount or some incentive in return for filling out the survey. You can also just strike up a conversation with them at the register – ask them simple, quick questions like “how did you hear about us”.

Customer Tracking

Ask them for their email at checkout. This will allow you to do two things – you now have a way to identify purchases that an individual customer makes, and you can also send them marketing emails. Tracking customer interaction with emails, then their in-store purchases will let you know what products they are most interested in.

If the customer has created an online account with your store, you can also track their Add to Cart actions. Knowing which items they add to their cart, then later purchase in-store can tell you a lot. You can better understand which products people are likely to view online, then purchase in store, as well as which products are most likely to gather your customer’s attention.

Observe Trends

More generally you can simply observe sales trends. If you are doing a lot of advertising for a particular product, and you notice the sales of that product trending upwards, it is safe to say that your advertising was a likely cause.

As always, contact us for more in-depth insights in leveraging your digital presence to increase your business.