5 tips for how to improve in-store customer experience in 2020

Here are some tips on how to keep your existing customers and how to attract new customers into your stores:

What could this kind of interactive entertainment involve? It might be, for example, an interactive ad that recognizes a visitor’s age, gender and mood and, based on this information, shows them relevant, tailored content on the screens in the store. The content may also be linked to further information, such as data on the weather or about the product next to the customer. For instance, a woman around 30, who is smiling and looking at a beautiful dress on a hot summer’s day, might be shown a video ad of a few friends enjoying a wonderful summer at the water while wearing precisely that dress. Interactive advertising enables us to evoke a customer’s emotions right in the store, thus improving their experience and influencing their decision-making. Interactive ads may be related directly to the product in question or to current discounts or active marketing campaigns.

Another way to tap into your customer’s emotions is to have a mirror that communicates with them about the product they are currently trying on. The mirror recognizes whether the customer is a man or a woman, and displays all the relevant information about the product. It can offer the item in other colors, show the different sizes in stock, and even suggest complementary accessories to match. Furthermore, the mirror can also point out any active discounts or promotions. For example, if you buy 3 of whichever item you are trying on, you will get the 3rd for free. The communicating mirror is certainly one of the more unusual ways to connect with the customer, and one that will definitely interest everyone who visits the store.

In the online world, websites collect all customer data. We can identify conversions, how much time a customer spent on the page, how they navigated around the site, and what elicited the best reaction. Based on this data, we can optimize your website so as to ensure the most effective conversion rate.

Until recently, this advantage was only available online. But now, we are also able to collect the same information using digital technologies in stores. We know how many customers came to the store, how long they stayed, where they moved, which product they were interested in, whether they tried the product, whether they were approached by an employee, whether they come back, and much more. Based on this data, we can optimize the space in-store so as to improve customer experience and increase sales in the same way as in the online world.

One of the arts of marketing is the ability to understand context and adapt accordingly. These days, technologies can help with this, too. By connecting data from different locations with data about the weather, from stores and from CRM systems, we are suddenly able to see links in historical data that escaped us before. We can measure the effect of every change in stores and quickly determine whether or not it is paying off. We can compare individual stores and find patterns that show why one or other location is more successful.

A common question is: “How do you actually get customers to enter the store?” An ad that reacts to passers-by in front of the store can tempt them inside. A pop-up notification for free Wi-Fi can also draw attention. And another great attraction is a humanoid robot that welcomes customers to the store and advises them how and where to go.

Mobile apps offer the most effective way of communicating with the customer in front of the store or inside. They can show current discounts, use gamification to alert people to the store, or simplify the buying process using navigation or by displaying more information about the products in augmented reality.

Source: RetailNews 1/2020 -  https://www.retailnews.cz/2020/02/14/5-tipu-jak-zlepsit-zakaznickou-zkusenost-na-prodejnach-v-roce-2020/