retail

TOP 3 REASONS WHY CONSUMERS STILL SHOP RETAIL

Is Retail Still the Place to Be?

85% of purchases are still made at the retail level, in traditional brick-and-mortar stores. But why does this happen when most can agree that shopping online makes life so much easier? Is it because people are still yearning for human interaction? We’ll explore the top three reasons why consumers still choose to go to a brick-and-mortar retail store in 2019, and what this can mean for online businesses.

1. Humans are Tactile

Human beings are naturally tactile creatures, in that they like to be able to touch a product. Some people learn through touch, or bond through touch more so than others. But on the whole, the average consumer enjoys the ability to be able to pick up a product and get a hands-on feel for the texture, weight, and the dimensions of the item.

Women more so than men prefer the tactile shopping experience, while both young and old consumers equally enjoy the physical shopping experience they can get in traditional stores. While online shopping can make the purchasing process quicker, easier, and faster, it will never be able to replace the tactile needs and desires that people have.

2. The Need for Speed

In-store shoppers enjoy the ability to immediately purchase and take their items home with traditional shopping methods. Even super fast, two-day online shipping can’t fulfill this desire that consumers have. Younger consumers and men prefer the ability to take an item home with them from the store immediately. When you order online, you might be waiting for several weeks before you get your item. This desire is probably something that online shopping will never be able to meet.

3. Returns are Easier

In surveys on brick-and-mortar retail versus online shopping, the ability to easily return an item rounds out the top three reasons why consumers like the retail experience. Returns for in-store items are usually more straightforward and faster than a return for an online store. However, some online retailers do not offer a straightforward, quick, or easy way for shoppers to return an item. This is something that could be fixed and optimized for online companies.

Surveys conducted on online shopping versus retail shopping have found that human interaction is at the bottom of the list when it comes to why people may prefer the traditional retail experience. For the most part, consumers want speed and convenience. While on the surface it can seem like online shopping should have this in the bag compared to retail shopping, that’s not always the case.

Online retailers can’t magically make an item appear in a person’s lap as soon as they click the “buy” button on their laptop or mobile device. Likewise, online retailers can’t give consumers a tactile experience of the product. But they can improve the returns process to better compete with brick-and-mortar retailers. While physical stores are still the primary way that people shop, a full 7% of surveyed consumers said that they only shop online. And, that number is expected to continue to grow.

Do you primarily shop online or do you prefer the traditional retail experience? Why or why not? Please leave us a comment and let us know what you think.

SHOULD BRANDS FORGET ABOUT RETAIL ALTOGETHER?

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Fighting for retail space is an ongoing and frustrating battle. Not only is it difficult to corner a sizable market share with retail, but retail also comes with associated costs that can be prohibitive for many brands. Fortunately, the online retail space brings some democratization to the sales process. But more than anything, the consumer experience is king, and meeting customer demands is what will make a company successful. The rise of the internet and eCommerce have fundamentally changed the way people shop. And with the increase in online shopping, consumer expectations have also changed. Brands should forget about retail altogether and focus on the online shopping experience if they want to stay competitive. Here are three reasons why:

Reason #1: People want instant gratification.
With the rise in internet shopping and smartphone technology, people have a ‘need it now’ mentality. It’s true that consumers aren’t as patient as they were a generation ago. Consumers expect that they should be able to find a product, buy the product, and have it shipped to their house within a few minutes. They don’t want to drive to a store. They don’t want to fight crowds or deal with the usual hassles associated with a traditional retail shopping experience. If brands want to stay competitive, then they will need to meet the customer’s need for instant gratification.

Reason #2: Brands need to shift their dollars to online marketing techniques.
With the rise in online shopping, brands would be well served to switch up their marketing techniques. Going forward, brands will need to devote more of their marketing dollars to online advertising. Online advertising, if done properly, will give brands some of the best ROI available. For example, the average Google AdWords campaign will give a business a 200% ROI.

Reason #3: Amazon has set consumer expectations high.
Amazon is one of the biggest reasons why consumer tastes have changed so drastically in recent years. More and more, consumers want the type of online shopping experience that Amazon can give them:

  • Instant gratification

  • Fast shipping

  • The ability to quickly and easily comparison shop via reviews

  • A variety of choices

Amazon is a multi-billion dollar company, so how can smaller brands even hope to compete with the online retail giant? It’s not as hard as some may think. It’s now easier and more affordable than ever for smaller companies to leverage effective digital marketing strategies.

Amazon has forever changed the retail experience for consumers. In the future, it’s going to be harder and harder to fight for a dwindling amount of retail space. Businesses will need to craft digital marketing strategies to stay competitive. By leveraging the power of Facebook, Instagram, Google, and other online advertising strategies, companies will be able to capture more market share in their industries.

It’s never too late to get started with an effective online marketing strategy. If you’re ready to ditch retail and rebrand your business for the future of online shopping, then you’ll need to consider digital marketing techniques to reach your ideal customer.