How do you convert offline customers to omnichannel customers who transact online for retail stores?

 

1. Ask some clarifying questions to better understand the goal and the problems that may be inhibiting the desired outcome

   1. Is the merchant bound to any specific industry?

      1. fashion

   2. Is the merchant just starting out with their online or have they been struggling for a while to get online traffic? If the latter, where have they been struggling the most?

      1. Merchant has been trying for a while but fails to get site visits - sounds like it may be a funnel issue

   3. Do they advertise at all or do they rely entirely on organic traffic?

      1. No online advertisement, all word of mouth at POS

   4. What methods of customer education do they use to drive awareness to their online retail store, if any? 

      1. None, they just say that they have one

   5. Are they currently using any sort of loyalty program?

      1. No

   6. Do other merchants in the space also struggle to establish an online presence or is this an area with much online activity?

      1. Lots of competitors

   7. Is there any reason why customers would be hesitant to consume this good online vs in person?

      1. Fit may not work out as well if they buy it online vs in person, this is tough to determine without trying it on first

2. Brainstorm potential pain points that may be hurting conversion

   1. Lack of awareness - customer may not internalize that there is an online version of the store. No advertising

   2. No incentive to shop online, they only want what they came to buy and have no interest in looking elsewhere

   3. Reluctant to purchase online because they may not like the fit and might be worried about the return policy

   4. Platform may not be built out so it’s inaccessible from mobile devices if the website was built only for desktop.

3. Talk through validating these pain points and decide which ones to go after first

   1. Ask customers at checkout if they knew that they could go through this experience online

   2. Two options

      1. Find out how other stores convert. Are loyalty programs common? Is there a BOGO for first time purchases? What are other stores offering that we lack? Quick look at other competitors would reveal any gaps here in our offerings

      2. Ask users at checkout if they would be interested in checking out the store online

   3. Paid study to find stresses of online shopping - see how this ranks

   4. Try to access and engage with the website on mobile

4. Set clear success metrics to measure impact on the problem

   1. Problem - no incentive to shop online

      1. North star metric - % of retail shoppers who are omni-channel shoppers and have completed at least one checkout both in person and online

      2. Secondary metrics

         1. Website traffic - visits

         2. % of retail shoppers who visit the site

         3. % of retail shoppers who are aware of the site

         4. Conversion rate of the site

5. Brainstorm solutions and prioritize (Impact, Cost)

   1. Offer discount code for first time purchase online at checkout (M,L)

   2. Improve signage in the store to help spread awareness (S,M)

   3. Showcase certain deals in the store that are only available to purchase online (M,L)

   4. Paid advertising through social by targeting users who have expressed interest in the brand (H,H)

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Therefore, I would prioritize options a, c, then d

1. Clarify:

Why are these customers not transacting online today?

- a. not aware of the company ecommerce sites?

- b. poor customer experiences when trasacting online?

Do we have understanding of their demographic etc for targeting purposes (assume incomplete data)

2. Strategies to convert them online

- Start collecting email address at POS, offer discount for the next purchase

- Customer segmentation: collate other customer info such as transaction frequency and customer demographic info (gender, age, location, interest, etc. to have a view about our customers) and construct a loyal customer list

- Customer Targeting

   - Offer customers online discounts for their loyalty.

   - Recommend products/discounts based on their previous purchase.

- Improve eCommerce experience

    - Product search/discovery

    - Check out/payment flow

    - Delivery/Fulfillment