Hey White Company, be omnichannel, don’t just leave it to staff.
On the weekend, I was at the White Company in Selfridges where I saw a tag on a product that I wanted to buy. Instead it said “Order this product in-store, Just ask a member of staff”. . Here are some suggestions how they could improve instore customer experience using the omnichannel tools they already have.
White Company is one of those flagship experiences on the high street. It has great product, great merchandising and a beautifully simple website that is a joy to use. After a visit to their concession at Selfridges, I noticed some missed opportunities that they could gain from embracing omnichannel techniques.
A bit about Omnichannel
Omnichannel techniques dictate that no matter what happens or whichever method a customer chooses to buy from a retailer they should be able to have a consistent experience. Most customers now expect an omnichannel experience from their customers whether they are instore, online via desktop, tablet or mobile. Omnichannel Customers are known to be more loyal and spend more on their websites. A sale is a sale from wherever.
Here are the basic suggestions about how White Company can be more omnichannel:
Use every opportunity to Convert your in-store Visitors into online customers
Their website is based on the e-commerce platform Hybris and they seem to be steadily growing in revenue from £35 million in sales in 2011 to £54 million in 2013/14. With such a lovely platform online, it doesn’t make sense not to use “omnichannel techniques” to help convert instore customers into online customers.
Once a customer is looking at a price tag, you know that they are engaging and considering to buy. It’s the same state that an online customer is in when they add a product to basket. As a retailer you have nearly won!
By swapping out the term, just ask our staff with:
You can order me in-store or online via our website
offers White Company two separate ways to convert customers. If staff are too busy then the online site will still be able to pick up the customer. For extra benefit, the store could even have its own unique Web url in order to track the cross channel connection and perhaps even earn sales credit for helping acquire a new customer.
Make sure your are consistent with pricing
[caption id=”” align=”alignright” width=”300"]
Instore it costs £60.00 whereas online it costs £100.00[/caption]
When I couldn’t find a free staff member, I went online to look up the Wooden Doll house and was quite surprised to see that the product was actually more expensive online. (£100 online vs £60 instore)
Whatever the reason is that there is such a difference in price, its really important for the customer experience that a pricing policy is adhered to. For any customers who look up that price, they will see that the instore price is cheaper, then it could make them question the value in going to the website or worse make sure that they are calling store staff on the phone to check prices.
If they are offering store specific discounting, then ideally they should find a way to make it clear to customers to prevent confusion.
Borders the bookstore were notorious for their differences in pricing before they went into administration. They charged a more expensive price instore and staff would routinely hide the fact that the price was cheaper online on the borders website. As a result the stores and the website were acting as competitors instead of as a multi-channel experience. What did customers do? They went to Amazon.co.uk which was very consistent.
Understand your customer audience is international
This last element is probably more around good simple usability however its an important one. At the concession at Selfridges, the White Company are more likely to have a good amount of tourists checking out their products. Why not use the the same label to mention that
International delivery options are available online from £7
and turn those same new visitors into potentially regular customers in China, Turkey or even South Africa. Grow your international website business by leveraging your concession at one of London’s top tourist shopping destinations.
But its not just tourists. Good omnichannel experience helps local customers too. Some of those customers are also likely to be people that don’t want to carry a large bag of stuff around with them as they go from store to store in the bustling heat of Oxford Street. By mentioning to in-store customers about their online Click and collect service,( powered by Collect+) they again could cut friction to buy and earn more.
Doing digital well is not just about having a flashy website, its about doing the simple things to communicate it and drive customers to use it. By making all your channels work together to help the customer buy, it creates new loyal customers and pays off big.
Return on investment?
How much would it cost to put a bit more text on a price card? Not much. How much more money could it drive? Well how much is a typical new customer worth to you? For me it seems like a simple and easy win. I hope this post helps to make retailers thinks more about the simple things that help reinforce and drive digital instore.
