Is physical shopping over?
“Living in the 21st century, there is no way you haven’t heard the hype: Shopping is moving online. Depending on your sources, you may even have heard that the end is nigh for the physical, in-store shopping experience, and that investing in it is a waste.
But while e-commerce is indeed growing, offline shopping is very far from over. In fact, as of 2022 the share of online commerce barely reached 20% of the retail market as a whole – or, in other words, for every dollar or euro spent online, five are spent in physical stores and shops.
Add to that money spent in the experience economy, and the conclusion is clear: Any business with a retail audience has a business obligation to their physical commercial spaces. Your in-store experience matters.
Motivation to spend
Obviously there is a multitude of reasons for anyone to buy anything, on- or offline. In a physical store, however, one of the major contributors to spending motivation is mood. Even a customer who is fully ready to buy a specific thing may well change their mind if the in-store experience leaves them in a bad mood. And, equally importantly, if the experience is delightful, they might just as well decide to linger, and buy a few other things while they’re at it.
Many factors contribute to a mood-enhancing in-store experience – but research shows that the impact of the physical space itself on the senses is not to be trifled with. An uncomfortable assault on the senses can turn the most anticipated store visit into something to be over with as fast as possible. On the other hand, the right lighting, sound and signage can make even trivial gocery shopping a solid pleasure.
Quite simply, customers who have a good in-store experience stay longer, buy more and come back. Research from the experience economy even indicates that people are more likely to share such good experiences on social media, essentially becoming ambassadors for your brand.
Practicality and pleasure
There is almost always something you can do with your in-store experience to further your business goals. What, exactly, to do varies greatly between sectors, of course, but often you will find low-hangning fruit. For example, even just presenting baseline practical information – things like pricing and wayfinding signs – in a better way may enhance the customer’s experience of meeting someone who cares and is helpful. Today’s technology has many improvements to offer to such practical applications.
On a slightly higher level, in-store technology integration may also help you offer variations of your digital services to your in-store audience, or to adaptively contribute to the presentation of your goods and services. And of course, it is possible to create in-store experiences purely aimed at entertaining, delighting or otherwise pleasing your customers.
It all very much depends on your business and your wishes, of course. Just don’t think that this has nothing to do with you or your business, because odds are, it absolutely does.