Getting The Best of Both Worlds in Retail: Digital and In-Store Commerce are No Longer Distinct

Shoppers are past the idea of channels. They move between touchpoints — digital and physical — effortlessly. Consumers across generations, ethnicities, and income brackets see value in the store as an integral point in the shopping experience.

In response, retailers need to knock down the walls that separate their channels, enabling shoppers to move seamlessly from online, to store, to mobile, to home delivery, etc. They cannot continue to think of shoppers as existing on single channels nor think about them as satisfied with siloed experiences. Consumers don't just want the best that any single channel can offer; they want the best of each channel across all channels.

That means retailers don't just need a digital strategy; they need to enhance the in-store experience to adapt to how consumers now shop. PYMNTS and Toshiba surveyed more than 2,000 U.S. consumers to understand how today’s consumers engage and purchase.*

The Value of the In-Store Experience

Shoppers want to touch, see and choose quality. The words that stood out most when consumers were asked what brings them into stores instead of going online were "see," "try," and "like." It's the sensory experience that makes shoppers go to the store.

Making the in-store experience stand out also means streamlining check-out. Factors consumers regard as crucial to in-store shopping experiences:

• Inventory checks (38.2%)
• Product review (36.4%)
• Instant Redeem scan code (31.3%)
• Engage via website/social media (26.8%)
• Buy online, pickup in-store (25.4%)

Providing shoppers with multiple check-out options and adopting technology that makes the purchase simpler and faster is vital to improving the in-store experience.

Digital’s Role in Shopping

While Toshiba's study found that the physical store is highly valuable in the shopping journey, the research also made it clear that the digital role in shopping is still growing.

“Affluent (39%), female (59%), and millennial (29%) consumers and married couples with children (37%) represent the largest shares of digital shifters.” *

Overall, the customer journey is not linear and is now more complex and varied than ever. Consumers toggle between digital and physical environments simultaneously to create a tailored buying experience and essentially eliminate the concept of online and offline commerce. Therefore, retailers should consider how social media and other digital channels can be used in the purchasing cycle, from enabling transactions to boosting retention.

Crafting an Experience Through Digital and Physical Retail

The message from consumers is hard to miss: What matters more is the experience, not the channel.

• Loyalty and promotions program? Implement an intuitive, easy-to-manage loyalty and promotions program that provides insights into each shopper’s interests so you can deliver targeted, relevant promotions for items they want.
• Convenient Self-Checkout? Enhance your self-checkout process with computer vision and A.I. to make recognizing non-barcode items easy and accurate.
• New kiosk experiences? Make sure you are engaging your shoppers anywhere in the store. From full checkout to price checks, to deli or bakery ordering, or even ticket ordering/check-ins or concessions, kiosks enable shoppers to take control of their shopping experience without waiting for help.
• Digital wallets for alternative payments? Instead of just credit/debit, offer mobile payment options through NFC on pin pads or mobile apps so shoppers can pay for their items with whatever their preferred method is.

Bringing the best digital experiences to the physical store allows retailers to enhance the brick-and-mortar experience and provide shoppers with immersive and informative interactions that help them along the purchasing journey.

By integrating digital into the in-store shopping experience and treating commerce as a seamless journey across channels and devices, they can also ensure that their business remains relevant and successful, even as the world of retail continues to evolve and digitize.

* Source:
PYMNTS & Toshiba (2021). How Does Today’s Consumer Engage and Purchase?: