Friday, 27 March 2015

From Bricks and Mortar Stores to Online Clicks

There is nothing more satisfying than holding a product in your hand, feeling the texture, and viewing the minutest details before proceeding to purchase the item. A traditional brick and mortar store enables shoppers to get the product experience, interact with a variety of items, and make an informed decision of what they are about to buy. Nevertheless, there has been an unprecedented change in customer buying habits in the last decade, with more and more people opting for online purchases of their favorite products.
In the home furnishing sector, most shoppers find it easy to view images and details about wall décor, accessories, and other furnishings on e-commerce sites, followed by an online buying of the same. In spite of such changing consumer behavior, retailers still have plenty of reasons to compete effectively with their e-commerce counterparts. Most of the home furnishing stores are trusted local establishments that can offer the expertise of style & assembly, option to touch the item, and fast local deliveries. However, they also need to transform and develop their marketing strategy to entice customers to buy from the store, irrespective of where the shopper researched about the item. Listed below are some of the tactics that home furnishing stores can adopt to survive in the e-commerce marketplace:

Merchandising

A store’s website is the first place where the consumer derives information about the company and its products. The home furnishing retailer should ensure that its website displays all the items available in the store. Large, clear, and sharp images with the right color consistency enable shoppers to understand the texture and material of the product. One also needs to provide detailed information about the product on the site, such as, dimensions, fabric used, durability, assembly, cleaning & maintenance tips, product return policy, and much more. If customers readily get answers to these questions, they are likely to visit the store to have a detailed and closer look at the product.

Displaying Inventory Information

Displaying accurate inventory information on the website goes a long way in garnering the trust of customers. Updating the availability and delivery details of the product on the website enables retailers to encourage shoppers to visit the store.

Online Marketing

In today’s era of cut-throat competition, it is essential to invest in online marketing of a home furnishing store. With the help of organic search and social media, retailers can optimize their local markets. Using the right keywords will definitely help in driving quality traffic to the website as well as the retail outlet.

Exceptional Consumer Service Offerings

Retailers now need to focus on rendering an exceptional in-store experience to the customers. When a consumer walks inside the store, he/she should be rewarded with a ‘wow’ shopping experience in terms of brand as well as service. The organization may equip its sales personnel with tablets, mobile, or other digital technology to enable them to efficiently serve the customers.

Instead of measuring online sales and in-store sales, retailers need to leverage their own advantages of local presence, providing the ability of feeling the product, and delivering expert product information. Of course, with the help of effective merchandising, online marketing, and the use of technology, stores can ensure to deliver a wonderful customer experience, and meet the requirements of today’s online buyer.  

merchandising store

Article Originally Posted on Article Base

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