Omnichannel

The advantages of buying online and picking up in-store don’t end with the money saved on shipping costs. Directing customers into the store to complete their transaction results in major net gains for retailers, as two out of every three consumers shop for additional items when picking up a product in store, according to a recent POPcodes survey. The opportunity to upsell is unique to the in-store experience, and when consumers have the option to test and try, they are much more likely to make incremental purchases.

A true omnichannel shopping experience is the ultimate value proposition retailers can offer their customers, and the order delivery and fulfillment experience is a vital part of this new shopping journey. To succeed, retailers must allow shoppers to receive their items at any time, and through any channel.

Today’s consumers are always connected, interacting with companies using an array of devices and across multiple channels. Consumers’ ability to shop at any time and on any Internet-connected device gives them the freedom to choose when and where to browse.  They can access pricing, inventory, and reviews from multiple sources. They can compare pricing with shipping from multiple online retailers. And many of them do this when they’re walking around in your store.

Consumers still, and always will, want a shopping experience where they directly interact with people they trust. They also want to touch and test products before they purchase–particularly when it comes to fashion, high-tech, or big ticket items.

Comparing Amazon’s new Manhattan site, which will serve as the central distribution center for its new same-day delivery service Amazon Prime Now, to a “store” is a bit of a stretch. However, given their 17-year lease, only time will tell how much impact it has in terms of brand exposure and customer experience.  
 
But Amazon is just one of many online retailers stepping into the “clicks-to-bricks” game. Birchbox, Bonobos, Warby Parker, and Zappos have all clued into key findings about consumer shopping preferences and trends. Research has shown that consumers who have the option of shopping both online and off are spending up to four times as much as those shopping just one channel. Of course, e-retailers are hungry to capitalize on this. 

Amazon continues to dive further into e-commerce with the release of its new pricing feature “Make an Offer”.  The new “Make an Offer” tool allows Amazon to compete with online auctioneer eBay, by enabling customers to negotiate lower prices on products listed on Amazon. Sellers and buyers can negotiate through email until the deal is … Read more

One of the most popular trends today in online retailing is customers buying online and picking up in-store, a practice referred to, cleverly, in the U.K., as “click and collect.” In fact more customers are asking for the service from the retailers they most often frequent. It’s a hybrid shopping experience: Customers can purchase an item anytime anywhere and then pick it up at their convenience at the retailer. Using this delivery model, a retailer can cultivate a convenient, streamlined image to the busy consumer; in addition, some stores are quite adept at drumming up related sales — upselling — at the time of pick up.

Apple Pay rolled out last month just in time for the holiday season and the flurry of purchases that accompany it.

According to Apple, more than 10 million iPhone users are able to make purchases at 220,000 U.S. retail locations using Apple Pay.  Though Walmart, Rite Aid and CVS have rejected Apple Pay in favor of the yet-to-launch CurrentC, reports from Whole Foods that more than 1 percent of transactions are made with Apple Pay indicate that the newest digital wallet is already changing how Americans shop and buy.

Addressing customer concern over recent high-profile data breaches, Apple pay uses a combination of physical security and tokenized account processes. When a consumer uses Apple Pay, a temporary account number, advanced encryption chips in the phone and the customer’s fingerprint are all used to complete the purchase.

In a clever twist on an age-old corporate purchasing dilemma, a merged channel company has worked with Chase Paymentech to allow employees who need to make last-minute supply purchases to do so using a corporate code.