The shops are opening back up, the weather’s… not great but not terrible so consumers should be returning to their old shopping habits, right?
Well… Not quite yet.
Consumers are getting back into the swing of things and footfall is increasing as the UK eases lockdown restrictions but the high street is a very different place than it was in March.To help brands understand what’s happening and how to engage with changing customer behaviour, more2 partnered with TheIndustry.Fashion for an interactive webinar.
Lauretta, CEO and Editor-in-Chief gives an informed and engaging account of how things are changing for retail with plenty of tips to tackle the situation. Then, Chris Simpson provides a number of thought-starters and specific approaches to improve your omnichannel performance in challenging times.
You can watch it here or read on for some of the key takeaways.
Conversion is key
Last week, footfall in stores across the UK was down -50% YOY. That’s including Super Saturday, when hospitality outlets and hairdressers were permitted to open and, retailers hoped, would give a much-needed bounce to stores.
It’s not a surprising figure, as anyone with physical stores will tell you. But what is interesting (and hopeful!) is that the average customer is spending more than usual. In fact, at the Icon Outlet at London’s O2, the average spend per customer was up +33%.
The message is clear: the customers who walk through your doors have a demonstrated intention to buy. You need to facilitate that customer so they enjoy coming to your store, purchase from you and will shop again.
Customer service and product training are crucial: your staff should be able to advise on garment fit if customers don’t feel comfortable trying clothes on and should know what stock is in quarantine so they can inform customers when particular sizes will be available again. This is particularly important if you have limited amounts of stock on the shop floor.
Top tip: If you want a masterclass in how staff should interact with customers, look no further than Primark where the queues felt more like a brilliantly-controlled and socially-distanced party than a store reopening!
The power of omnichannel (and data capture)
The customer experience has to be at the centre of everything you do.
In practical terms, that means that a customer must be able to buy online and return instore or vice versa. The purchase and return journey must be as fluid as possible, no matter how a customer wants to interact with you.
eReceipts can help you simplify the process – and gives you another chance to collect customer data instore. At more2, our clients who incentivise staff to ask for customers’ email addresses see huge uplift compared to those who don’t.
Make in-store data capture one of your top KPIs and you’ll reap the benefits.
Your Facebook pixel is king
It’s an obvious one but you just can’t underestimate the importance of your Facebook pixel. When someone demonstrates interest in your product or brand by looking at your website, searching on Google or watching your video on Facebook, you need to be confident that you’re doing everything you can to convert them.
80% of brands we audit don’t have their Facebook pixel set up correctly. That means that Facebook’s AI can’t track where a customer is in their buying journey and can’t target them effectively so you’ll lose potential sales.
Fixing the pixel is the first thing we do for any new client at more2. And it’s not your fault (or your team’s!) if yours isn’t firing properly right now – Facebook doesn’t make the pixel easy to set up. But when it’s firing and linked with your product catalogue, you will see a step change in performance. So it’s worth investing the time and getting it right.
Want a chat about how we can help your business adapt to the new consumer behaviour? Drop us a line at hello@more2.com
