This year we celebrate one year of reporting on retail traffic trends!
While we once considered e-commerce and your online stores to take away from your foot traffic, this year has shown us that your online presence can be a major complement to your physical store.
By keeping updated inventory levels of your physical store online, customers can fast-track their visit to your store by finding options that give them the instant satisfaction of buying in-store that we all know and love.
THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS
- Foot traffic: What lies ahead?
- No-code: How to get your online store to compliment your physical stores.
- The Fam: Why You Should Carry Sleep Noise Machines In Your Store.
FOOT TRAFFIC INDEX
Here’s a look at last week’s foot traffic compared to the same time last year.
FOOT TRAFFIC TRENDS
Industry insights so you can convert your foot traffic into more sales.
What lies ahead?
Last week, payment provider Square released its annual report on consumer trends and analysis on how people are navigating through retail in 2021.
Although Amazon has taken a major hold on retail, local brick-and-mortar stores still hold a special place in consumers’ hearts. As explained by David Rusenko, Head of eCommerce at Square, “Local shops offer many advantages over the warehouse approach of retail giants, like Amazon and Argos. Being physically close to their customers creates opportunities to shine, by understanding their wants and needs, and offering faster access to high quality selection of products”
Despite people still finding their way into physical stores, Square’s report highlights that 97% of consumers now make monthly retail purchases online. While shopping on social platforms was seen as an experiment that wouldn’t last, now we are seeing a shocking 73% of consumers buying from social platforms at least once a month.
As I think everyone can agree with, there is a sense of joy that comes from shopping in person that cannot be matched with online shopping. The instant satisfaction of getting your product is something that will never go away. And because of that, nearly 50% of retailers now offer next-day delivery.
Going forward, analysts are expecting online shopping to go hand and hand with physical stores as a complement to them as opposed to replacing them.
The power of no-code
As we continue to see online shopping as a complement to physical stores rather than a threat, keeping your online presence as pristine as possible is still a major benefit for your physical stores.
A common beginning for the customer journey has been for consumers to go online and check what is in stock in-store, then go shopping in-person to make the purchase and get the instant satisfaction of going home with the goods.
And with that, inventory management and ensuring your inventory online accurately reflect the products available in-store continues to be of major importance.
While keeping your online store and physical stores in-sync sounds easier said than done, the advancement of no-code solutions has made it easier than ever to create a seamless customer journey.
The Fam
Why You Should Carry Sleep Noise Machines In Your Store
Last week on The Fam, they discussed how selling mattresses are all about selling a better night’s sleep, rather than selling the features of the mattress.
This week, they take the importance of sleep one step forward by explaining how a good night’s sleep comes from much more than a mattress.
Noise affects the stages of sleep. While noises actually increase stage 1 sleep they decrease slow-wave and REM sleep—which are arguably the most important stages.
Read the full article HERE on how to help your customers have the best sleep of their life.
NOTEWORTHY NEWS
Thrive and survive: How adaptive retailers survived and thrived during the pandemic.
Manufacturing: Tempur Sealy ramps up US manufacturing capacity to reduce supply chain exposure
Holiday fun: Is the fun ever coming back to holiday shopping?
Tech takeover: How you can harness tech to meet consumers anywhere.
RANDOM IRRELEVANCE
World record: 105-year-old Louisiana woman sets world record in 100-meter dash.
Lost in space: Ferris wheel-size asteroid could be a lost piece of the moon.
Rare sightings: The ‘rarest mammal in North America‘ wanders into Colorado garage.
Stranger Things: After a long wait ‘Stranger Things’ announces season 4 release date.