When the pandemic hit, consumers transitioned from brick-and-mortar stores to online shopping. But with increased vaccinations and a slow shift to normalcy, consumers are returning to brick-and-mortar stores as they still want an in-store shopping experience for certain items.
However, consumer expectations have heightened in the past 18 months and simply having an online and offline store to reach consumers is no longer enough. So, we’ve discussed the 3 things store owners can do to keep up with consumer demands and improve the consumer experience.
Here’s what’s covered in this article:
- Provide Updated Inventory Information
- Offer Various Fulfillment Options
- Make Access Easy Across All Devices
Provide Updated Inventory Information
Consumers today don’t want to waste a trip to the store or make an online purchase without knowing the product’s stock availability.
So, it’s important to keep your inventory updated and synced across your offline stores and online sales channels.
The Octopus Bridge connects your in-store POS and online marketplaces and storefronts like Amazon, eBay, Shopify, etc. This setup updates inventory across all platforms and alerts you when your stock dips below a certain level.
As a result, you avoid an overselling problem; your store is always stocked, the consumer has a great shopping experience, and keeps coming back for more.
Offer Various Fulfillment Options
Although consumers still prefer shopping from brick-and-mortar stores, as mentioned earlier, they still want the convenience of shopping from online stores, looking at the product, and returning it instantly if it doesn’t meet their expectations.
So, the Buy Online Pickup In-Store (BOPIS) fulfillment model gained popularity as it allowed consumers to order online and pick up their orders from a nearby store. Statistics also show that more than 67% of consumers in the US have used the BOPIS model in the last 6 months, and 90% of retailers have already planned to offer a BOPIS model.
To implement a BOPIS option, retail stores must have an optimized supply chain process and an updated inventory so that consumers can check the real-time availability of products.
Make Access Easy Across All Devices
An average US resident has access to at least 10 connected devices (as of 2020) and stays in an “always-on” shopping experience because of the increased connectivity and presence of multiple devices.
In fact, 70% of consumers make purchases while they’re multitasking, so they expect a seamless shopping experience that lets them switch devices on their buyer’s journey.
For example, consumers may want to start shopping on their desktop and complete their shopping on their mobile devices. To fulfill this expectation, retailers should sync customer details across online and offline stores, so customers don’t have to enter data repeatedly.
Octopus Bridge helps you do just that by syncing important details like sales, customer information, inventory, etc., across your online and offline stores. The best part is that the integration links your existing systems and requires no upgrade!
Contact us, if you want to try Octopus Bridge for your store, and we’ll get back to you.
Wrapping Up
With the effects of the pandemic subsiding, consumers are returning to stores, but the need for convenience has greatly influenced their expectations.
And to meet them, you need a plugin like Octopus Bridge that connects your online and offline stores and enables data exchange between them.
This way, you can offer various fulfillment options, improve customer experience and improve customer retention and revenue.
