7 Tips to increase your conversion rate

1. Offer local pickup

Not all visitors to your brick-and-mortar store will visit by chance. Sure, attractive window displays and?retail signage?can convince passersby to impulsively drop in. But some people shop in-store because they have a reason to do so.?

One of those reasons is local pickup, where customers can buy or reserve items online. They visit the location to collect and pay for the item.?

As of April 2020, 35% of retail merchants fulfill?local pickup orders—a figure accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic. Some 64% of consumers are now interested in this type of Buy Online, Pick up In-Store (BOPIS) or?curbside pickup?service:

So, how do these BOPIS options increase retail conversion rate? The secret lies within impulse buying. Smart product placements convince people to buy more items in-store.

2. Provide buy in-store, ship to home (shop and ship)

Unavailable items are a retail conversion rate killer. Not only do you lose out on the sale, but customers can get frustrated if the item they’re interested in is out of stock.

Solve that problem by providing buy in-store, ship to home services. Also known as shop and ship, retailers can increase the conversion rate of a store because people still pay for an item while they’re visiting. The only difference is the item is delivered to their home, rather than walking out of the store with it.

3. Leverage email cart functionality

The sad truth is that not everyone visiting your brick-and-mortar store will convert. There are tons of reasons behind it; some are outside of your control. But that doesn’t mean you have to lose one-time store visitors forever.?

Email cart functionality helps the customer order online while they are in-store. Retailers can create custom shopping carts based on the items a visitor has shown interest in. All they need from the customer is an email address to send it to.

This is a double win: customers can purchase items they were interested in when they’re ready to do so. Retailers also collect contact information for future email marketing campaigns.?

The result? Sheet Society has a 50% in-store conversion rate (compared to 2.4% online). Almost a quarter of those customers return to shop again.

4. Train and motivate sales staff

Did you know that?67% of people?left a store because they couldn’t find the product they needed? Another 39% left because of poor?customer service. Both of those elements can be easily rectified by training and motivating your shop floor team.?

Invest in a retail training program that helps associates deliver outstanding customer service. That might include:

·??????Role-playing how to greet customers when they enter the store

·??????Training staff to pick up on body language cues from shoppers?

Motivation is another important factor to consider when developing your training program. If your sales associates are unmotivated, they likely won’t go above and beyond to help customers (and therefore worsen your retail conversion rate).?

Incentives—such as sales commission and promotions—could be the nudge they need to deliver A+ customer service. That will stop shoppers leaving empty handed.

5. Use shopping technology?

The majority of in-store shopping experiences aren’t as tech-free as we might expect. Research shows that once entering a store,?34% of shoppers?continue to interact with the brand through a mobile device.

Help those shoppers make their purchases through retail technology such as:

·??????Contactless checkout.?70% of shoppers?say the checkout experience influences their perception of a store more than anything else. If they see long queues or human checkouts, some may turn away. Use contactless payments hardware and a mobile POS system to accept payments anywhere in store quickly and prevent shoppers from having to wait in line to pay for their items.?

·??????QR codes for product descriptions.?69% of shoppers?would rather use their mobile device for product reviews than ask a sales associate. Help them do that with QR codes that direct people to product pages or landing pages for the products they’re interested in.

·??????AR/VR technology.?If a customer wants to see what an item looks like, use?virtual fitting rooms?to remove friction. Queuing for a changing cubicle, changing clothes, and worrying about whether clothing has been sanitised are all concerns you’ll eliminate.

6. Offer free samples

People are wired to love free stuff.?

Professor Dan Ariely?ran a study?that tested how people react to free chocolate samples from two brands: Hershey and Lindt. The latter has a higher price tag and perceived value. Yet when people were asked to choose between a free Hershey chocolate and a dramatically discounted Lindt chocolate, most people chose the free option.

Free samples of products can increase your conversion rate because it appeals to reciprocity. It’s why?35% of product samplers?will purchase the product in the same shopping trip.?

The most famous example of free sampling is Costco. It has popup stations around each warehouse so customers can sample products they have for sale. It partnered with Ziploc to host a four-day sample station in one of its stores. The result? A?156% increase in sales.

7. Highlight social proof

Speaking of the psychology behind purchasing, there’s another bias you can use to increase your retail store’s conversion rate: the pressure to be involved in a group. It's why?93% of customers?feel user-generated content is helpful when deciding to buy something, and?97% use online reviews?to guide their purchase decisions.?

The simplest way to appeal to this is through?social proof?from well-known or well-respected people. For example, highlight dentist endorsements for a toothpaste you sell, or images of social media influencers wearing your jewelry.?

Retailers can also use scarcity to show products are selling well. The fear of missing out is a phenomenon that?69% of millennials?experience regularly.?

If shoppers hear that an item has been bought by several people the same day, it could be the nudge that convinces them to be in the same group—especially if there’s a risk of the in-demand product becoming unavailable.

Stephane CASIMIR

Source Shopify