Previously, a lot of shopping happened in physical stores and people loved taking their time to roam streets to find the right things they wanted. The official websites of these stores contained nothing more than a few pictures and write-ups. But, things have changed in the recent past.
Today, ecommerce sites have become the place where maximum sales happen. We shop from the comfort of our homes. So, what is the role played by the physical stores? Experts say that these have become the new marketing channels. Keep reading to find out how ecommerce has turned them into successful marketing channels.
Customers as Buyers
The world has become busier and people do not have time to go outside for shopping. This is when the retailers introduced the concept of online shopping. Today, many prefer visiting the stores only if they feel special about being at the place. So, these stores treat them more as guests and less as buyers. The store owners say that they want the customers to feel like king whether they buy anything or not. So, they turn the stores into places where people can hang out and thus think high of their brand.
As Museums
The luxury brands are thinking of ways to flaunt their brand along with being an aspiration. They mix the elements of good ambience and installations similar to museums to share their vision with their customers. They want to maintain the mass appeal as well as exclusivity both at the same time. These brands organize exhibitions at galleries and open museums of their own. This is how they make use of art and design to show how aesthetically rich they are.
Better Treatment
Customers are always happy if they get a higher level of treatment from the retailers. The store owners take advantage of this and provide them with more than what they expect. Like the treatment they get at hotels where everything is taken care of, luxury brands try to deliver the same in physical stores. They have valet parking, personal shoppers and private shopping lounges and even staff to take the customers’ coats and bags. Some brands offer suites for shopping parties where they get styling advices and extra care.
Stores at Fewer Locations
Today less is the new more and brands have started following this notion too. It is a fact that online shopping sites sell goods at nominal prices staying away from the premium prices they are being sold in physical stores. Still there are people who want to touch and feel the items before buying. For such people, these brands maintain the stores at a few locations in contrast to the large number of stores that used to exist. But, these stores are made high-impact which customers love to return to.
Technology in Stores
Most brands make use of different technologies to create an image in social media and ecommerce sites. One other thing they consider important is making the physical stores tech savvy. Intelligent retailers try different techniques like augmented reality features and virtual reality to impress the customers. They use innovative ideas to make the visitors buy more than they intended to.
It is thought that in the future too there is no limitation to experimenting with technology in the stores. The customer preferences change with time and so do the ideas of retailers. Using customer-friendly ideas is the need of the hour because they visit the stores and sites only if there is something unique that grabs their attention. It seems that the personal shopping experience and the better treatment are all being successful strategies.
