We all are familiar with what window shopping is, and most of us are guilty of doing it! Covid-19 pandemic brought a surge in the global E-commerce shopping culture. While the said culture was already on the rise, the pandemic necessitated online shopping as the only resort for homebound citizens worldwide, only to set the trend ablaze onward and upward.
And with all the conveniences of in-store shopping right at users’ fingertips, the online shopping experience just makes sense.
Does it mean that it’s over for the shopping malls and brick-and-mortar stores? In answer to that, we would have to come back to the crux of the article that reinventing window shopping is critical to not staying behind in a digital age.
For many people, the essence of shopping in the malls remains unmatched, which they believe cannot be truly captured by digital shopping. Thus, retailers can tap into the digital age and adapt and improvise to enhance their business.
Reasons To Reinvent Window Shopping?
People around the world are becoming comfortable with online platforms. With a catalog of products charted out on their mobile screen, saved trips to the mall, frequent sales, coupons and discounts, and no hassle of long queues at the cash counter, among other factors, people prefer online shopping to offline stores.
In such a scenario, retailers are laden with the stress of overpowering competition. They need to employ the latest technology in their outlets in order to stay updated with modern-day consumer demands. This is required in order to enable a smooth, consumer-friendly, and friction-free form of offline shopping. Another problem faced by retailers is that with a sparser incoming crowd against piled-up stocks and product oversupply, retailers have a lower profit margin.
While introducing online features in an offline store might seem counter-intuitive, this system of hybrid shopping experience is emerging as the new normal. A great upside of offline shopping is that customers can see the product that they are buying as opposed to the online method of buying on the basis of pictures.
Thus, by bringing the best of both worlds together, offline retailers can drive greater customer inflow and earn higher profits as well.
Tips To Reinvent Window Shopping in the Digital Age
We’ve gone on enough about the importance of revamping your offline retail business but let us now help you with the how’s of it.
Allow Cash-Free Payments
Offline outlets that do not provide cash-free payment methods might be making the biggest mistake. As a retail business, you have to operate according to customer needs and be sensitive to them. Most people these days do not carry a stack of cash in their pockets and rely more on online payment methods like UPI, QR scanners, debit/credit cards, and so on.
If you fail to provide these ease-of-payment facilities to the customer, they might find it easier to buy or shop online, and you end up losing another customer to digital commerce. Having resources like a wi-fi enabled swipe machine and QR scanner code in place is a customer-friendly tactic that will also be right up their alley.
Enable In-App Payments
Nobody likes long queues! Most retail stores nowadays are allowing in-app payments for customers, which allows them to bypass the crowd and long wait in queues by paying for the products they’ve shopped with the help of their preferred payment method. To encourage such a practice, many brands also provide exciting returns like coupons, credit points, discounts, and other rewards.
Equip The Store With Free Wi-Fi
Wi-fi is a necessity of the present times. If you want to drive customers in-flow, it can be helpful to have an open free wi-fi premise. It enhances the overall in-store experience for the customers.
Additionally, it can assist in quick payments and present them with access to a wealth of information about a product, say jackets, and its reviews, for example, 15 Best Jacket Brands in India, benefits, and other details. As a retailer, you are in benefit too as wi-fi provides you with a medium to capture customer details. You can build on such details to target them with offers. Thus, it is a win-win situation for you both!
Final Words
Retail stores are not on the brink of extinction, and digital shopping has not swept them out of business. All they need is to upgrade per the demands of the present time. By incorporating aspects of the prevalent technology, they do not give in to online commerce supremacy but instead attempt to create a state-of-the-art and fulfilling shopping experience for the customers.
We hope we could help you understand the importance of revamping window shopping in the age of the digital. Feel free to reach out to us in case of further queries.