Brick and mortar retail is an enormously valuable tool available to sales and marketing executives to help increase revenue, awareness, and brand loyalty. The channel is designed to create demand and stimulate an action to buy.
If dealer relationships are kept warm and executed properly, the physical retail channel can be a substantial competitive advantage for your company even for online sales. Yet the fundamental problem still exists: online sales and wholesale channels strategically are treated much the same as they were since the 90s…siloed with no synergies between channels. Online efforts that expand in the physical world if executed properly are the most effective way to grow your total business by becoming more consumer centric. Therefore we’ve crafted three key reason why you should consider a Retail as a Service Platform:
Be More Customer Driven.
Customers, dealers and consumers, are the lifeblood of your business. Without them all is lost. Consumers are abandoning checkout as the method in which they want to buy is not available. Consumers want the convenience of buying online coupled with the service of retail. With a Retail as a Service platform consumers can buy online and pick-up in store in click to brick fashion with assembly, install, fitting, etc. without the worry of being home to receive a package or risk it being stolen from their porch. Plus the added benefit of a free local return to a store. All things consumers want that build customer loyalty. See below for consumer responses to what makes them more loyal to a brand:
Rather than asking yourself how can I make more money on an individual sale? You should be asking yourself: how can I create more value for the end consumer and make my business more repeatable/scalable to make more money long-term. Offering both online and physical retail options is a winning combination to create better customer experiences, convenience, and customer service.
Sell More.
Giving consumers more convenient options to buy is the number one way to boost conversions and confidence during checkout. A lot of consumers are reluctant to place large online orders due to porch theft and the more critical the season where the bulk of sales activity occurs like holidays, the less likely they are to buy. For products that require value added services or post-purchase support consumers want to know they will be supported before even buying online. Part of this support includes free local returns if the sizing is incorrect for example.
On the wholesale side, retail as a service can be used to open up your next best account letting dealers know there is a market for your products in a low cost manner. As you turnover their inventory they become more loyal and want to push your brand over others in store leading to heightened sales for everyone.
Become More Profitable
By combining channels your team can maximize its marketing spend and obtain a better ROI. By giving consumers no excuse not to buy with their preferred shopping method you can obtain more conversions. For those not currently selling online you can obtain insights as to which aspects of your marketing are working and which parts need to be killed.
By collaborating with your dealers online you can help them become better dealers in letting them know what consumers actually are buying versus having them guess. This allows them to better adjust their in store inventory and turn more of it over with less discounting that devalues your brand. A cross-channel approach allows everyone to be more responsive to the consumer and capitalize on opportunities that present themselves before your competition has time to react.
Regardless of what industry you are operating in, business now is just too competitive to be running archaic systems and siloed sales channels that are not giving you an edge. You are being tasked to do more with less, an automated vendor, that allows you to strategically and efficiently sync your sales channels is critical to success.
