In-store experience: Make your stores relevant in a digital world

Welcome to the future store

If you think the future of commerce is digital only, you’re wrong.

Stores aren’t dying. They’re transforming.

We’re here to show you that your brick-and-mortar stores could actually be your differentiator.

But are you delivering the experiences that today’s discerning customers demand?

IMPACT’s future store experts can answer that question and help you create, scale and manage a one-of-a-kind retail experience that puts you miles ahead of your competition and win customer loyalty.

SaveSave

People need people

48% of consumers still prefer to head into a store, rather than use the internet, to do their shopping (Forbes, State of Consumer Behaviour Report, 2021).

Why? It’s all about that unique in-store experience. Digital-only doesn’t replicate the special interpersonal and sensory dimension customers get from shopping in stores.

Yet your customers don’t have to go to your stores anymore. They have to want to go. And that means retailers need to provide an immersive, connected and positive in-store experience.

Get it right, and your stores will help you create value for your business and customers. Welcome to the future store.

What in-store experiences do your customers want?

At IMPACT, we’re all about customer satisfaction and ensuring best-in-class experiences for the consumer.

Customers still want to interact with products in-person, enjoy the benefit of taking home their product immediately and feel empathy, engagement, and truly personal service from your store associates. The best way of achieving that is through well-incentivised, empowered and knowledgeable store associates that are true brand ambassadors.

However, exciting products and great customer service alone won’t cut it. To really wow your customers you need to elevate your in-store experience by building an infrastructure that revolves around:

Convenience
Efficient and varied checkout processes
A sense of community
Immersion
Live events
Being memorable
And lastly, a seamless connection between your physical and digital channels

Learn more about the best ways to transform customer experiences in-store with this retail cheat sheet.

The business benefits of investing in in-store experience

Stores can serve as an impressive driver for raising brand awareness, boosting online sales and building customer loyalty. When encountering a positive in-store experience 90% of consumers say they are more likely to return and 65% are likely to spend more online with that brand (Forbes, States of Consumer Behaviour Report, 2021).

And in a landscape where the cost of customer acquisition online is soaring, digital noise is deafening and customers are less loyal than ever before, investing in your store experience is a must for creating an effective retail strategy that fends off online and offline competition.

How retailers can use digital to enable better in-store experiences

Finally – the T-word. Technology.

If you aren’t bringing the best of digital into your stores, you don’t have a growth plan.

Too many retailers think technology is just for transactions. It’s not. Strategically combining the digital with physical in-store means happier customers, more efficient store associates and better omnichannel experiences.

Think buy online, pick up in-store to help your customers counter unpopular shipping costs, web-to-store connectivity and multiple checkout options so self-checkout fans can enjoy their preferred checkout experience, every time.

Learn more about how the future of retail experiences from our in-store gurus in our on-demand webinar: The Store is Your Differentiator.

We can help you choose and implement best-of-breed technologies that enable:

Revenue-focused experiences
1-1 personalisation, communication and product recommendations
Single view of customer
Unified commerce fulfilment capabilities like endless aisle, BOPIS, BORIS, ship from store and many more
Cross-channel loyalty programmes
Clientelling
Single view of stock/inventory across all locations and channels (stores, warehouses, marketplaces, suppliers etc.)
Interactive digital signage that drives footfall and sales
New ways of gathering store data that enable true omnichannel analytics and reporting
Higher customer satisfaction and lower cost-to-serve

5 reasons to invest in your stores

Reinventing your store concept and establishing positive, on-brand and engaging experiences will be the make it or break it for stores in the future.

Give me stores! 46% of consumers still prefer to shop in person rather than online.
Omnichannel increases customer lifetime value (CLV): There’s a 30% higher CLV for omnichannel customers than single channel.
Retain your customers: 2.7X – Better customer retention rate in companies with a strong omnichannel strategy.
Unlock hybrid retail: Encourage customers to see, touch and try on in-store, then buy online.
Boost brand awareness: physical spaces can be used to create interactive, shareable experiences that create a buzz. Think mattress start-up Casper’s luxury in-store nap pods, or Nike’s in-store sports stadiums.

Why choose IMPACT for your in-store retail strategy?

There’s knowing, and then there’s executing.

Our in-store experts will help you do the hard work. We’re industry leaders in creating future-ready in-store experiences that both delight and engage customers.

With 20+ years of first-hand experience in transforming commerce, we’ve got you covered in everything from strategy, to click and collect, to organisational set-up.

But what really sets IMPACT apart is our unique approach to in-store experiences. We never start with technology. We always begin with the business case. That means understanding your target audience’s requirements, and the experiences we need to win their repeat business.

Lastly, we bring in the technology that enables the use cases that thrill your customers, clinch their loyalty and outpace your competitors.

We don’t leave it there though. Customer expectations move fast. What makes a compelling in-store experience is always changing. So, we always leave room for experimenting and iterating with new concepts.