Omnichannel: How Online Research Influences In-Store Purchases

What do consumers expect from brands and retailers today? Continuity between the online and in-store shopping experience.

The challenge for retailers is to face a changing reality and the evolution of the consumer, who is more attentive, more engaged, more aware, more committed, more diverse, and more omnichannel.

Customers no longer follow a direct, predictable purchase path like they used to; instead, they now continuously broaden and narrow their options while making a purchase.

And this doesn’t just apply to online shoppers or those who webroom — it also applies to people who shop offline. A recent Google study in the United States found that over the past two years there has been a 15% increase in mobile search queries performed right inside stores. This means that even while inside a store, shoppers keep looking for deals and competing products. Searches like brand name*coupon…a genuine, ongoing challenge.

Today, users expect search technology to identify places in their area that offer what they need. These better-informed shoppers no longer have to waste precious time wandering around town from one store to another.

The smartphone has become the main tool for gathering information and planning a store visit, and it’s exactly there that users need to find their answers: advice on the brand, information about the nearest store, and confirmation of in-store product availability. Whether they’re looking for high-value items or everyday essentials, people are informed and spend more and more time researching the products they want to buy.

Consumers rely on their smartphones before making purchases in-store, which is why the need to provide product content and information has never been so essential and strategic. Retailers therefore need to prioritize the mobile experience and online browsing in general.

Google data shows that 41% of users would like retailers to share more information about inventory — so why not give users the answers they’re looking for?

It’s no coincidence, for example, that 3 out of 4 consumers who do a local search on their smartphone visit a store within 24 hours, or that as many as 82% of users check their smartphone to learn more about purchases they’re about to make in-store.

So how should retailers behave? By answering users’ questions even before they walk into the store, giving them one more reason not to buy a competitor’s product.

To meet purchase intent in a specific geographic area, it’s necessary to carry out an action that remains one of retail’s oldest strategies: bringing shoppers into your stores.

Claudio Agazzi, CEO and founder of RetailTune, explains: “To try to maximize consumer behavior, the local strategy and the digital strategy must be fully integrated. Omnichannel strategies – strategies that show what’s in stock in nearby stores and boost offers around your business locations – generate an over 80% higher rate of incremental visits in-store ”

This is the direction RetailTune is moving in — on one hand partnering with retailers, and on the other giving consumers all the answers to the questions they have before, during, and after an offline purchase, by offering:

• Centralized and automated distribution of store data and information across all digital touchpoints consistently and updated in real time.
• Drive to store, the customer is guided and encouraged to head to the nearest store, thanks to the effectiveness of a campaign/call to action aimed at increasing in-store traffic.
• Activation of local Drive to Store campaigns with a dedicated team working on a precise editorial plan for each store and brand.
• Creation and management of a Store Locator optimized for Local SEO, ranking among the top search results with complete information on every single store: opening hours, phone number and email, in-store promotions and offers, services available at the store, best user reviews, and stock availability of the products being searched for.
• Geolocation of the user within the brand’s website, showing them in real time the nearest physical store that has the item they were looking at in stock. Continuous monitoring of local information, rapid support with alerts, and a dedicated account manager.
• Reserve In-Store feature letting users reserve an item in-store so they can see it, touch it, and try it on.
• Back In-Store feature notifying users when the item they were looking for becomes available in-store again.