With mobile shopping taking the reins, brick-and-mortar shop owners are looking for creative ways to bring customers into their store. However, improving your in-store experience isn’t limited to out of the box implementations. Even simple upgrades of the store environment can make a difference. Let’s improve your in-store customer experience today!
Here are a few ideas to help you enhance the in-store experience of your customers.
1. Provide A Customized Experience
Online stores are becoming the preferred shopping method. To adapt to this change, stores are rebranding themselves as outing spots. Adidas in NYC set up a juice press, bleachers to watch games, and a miniature track for customers to run or get feedback on their running skills. Another floor is covered in a turf field, where customers can play soccer and exercise with workout equipment.
Just as Adidas is setting themselves up as an athletics hub, Sephora is hoping to do the same with makeup. Sephora allows customers to test out their products with a 15-minute touch-up, 45-minute makeover, or 90-minute consultation. Customers attending an event can conveniently schedule their Sephora shopping around their pre-event makeovers.
At American Girl, you can book a salon appointment for a girl and her doll, where they can get their hair styled and nails manicured. American Girl introduced a feature ubiquitous in retail stores such as Converse. Both of them give customers an opportunity to customize a purchase of their products. In American Girl’s design studio, customers can create their own dolls and outfits. In the Converse customization lab, customers can hand-pick the fabrics, laces, and designs of their own shoes.
2. Incorporate Technology
To keep up with advancing technology, retail stores are using technology to enhance their store ambiance. Companies are introducing virtual dressing rooms to their stores, where customers can try on next season’s items before they even hit store shelves. Stores are also using technology to revamp their store displays, with Topshop featuring a virtual reality waterslide in theirs.
3. Happy Employees Lead To Happy Customers
Employees carry the important job of taking care of customers. If you take care of your employees, they are likely to mirror that guidance. Plus, companies lose $11 billion a year on employee turnover. So, it pays to improve your employee experience in the process of improving customer experience.
4. “Make Yourself At Home”
At times, shopping can be a lengthy and stressful process. To ease the shopping experience for your customers, consider including lounge areas. This way, customers can rewind and family members tagging along can enjoy the pass time. Often, parents take their children with them to the store. The amount of time the parent spends in the store depends on the child’s cooperation. To ensure this is the case, make your store kid-friendly with the addition of toys, crayons, or a chalkboard.
Since most customers don’t leave their homes without their cell phone, try to include USB chargers in your store. Also, 62% of businesses report that offering free wifi increased customer stay at their store.
5. Stay On Brand
If you are playing music at your store, remember to stay on brand. Choose music that is consistent with your brand culture. And if you include an in-store T.V., play channels that match your brand. Meaning, if you sell athletic wear, set the channel to ESPN.
The importance of staying on brand extends to partnerships with celebrities and influencers. Verizon Wireless hosted events where customers can come to the store to participate in video calls with famous NFL players. As Shopify notes on their blog post, “it’s relevant to Verizon because of their NFL Mobile app and exclusive access for customers to live stream games on their phones.”
6. Changing Room Tips
First and foremost, your changing rooms should be clean. All items left in the changing room should be quickly removed and put away. Steer clear of hand-print stained mirrors. Your changing room should also include a place to sit and multiple spots to hang clothing to aid in the sorting process. For a flattering mirror appearance, use soft lighting and well-angled mirrors. Also, opt for doors over curtains. Doors are more secure than their curtain counterparts. Even the best of curtains never seem to stretch to both ends of the changing room.
Use these tips to enhance your in-store customer experience. You’ll find this will help you drive foot traffic and please your customers.
Guest Blog Courtesy of MakersValley, an online platform that matches boutiques & designers with over 150+ Italian apparel manufacturers, with no minimum orders, no markups (pay factory price), and a dedicated account manager to guide you through the manufacturing process.
