Personalized Marketing
Without Limiting In-Store

 

Megan comes to shop at your store for the first time. Your in- store associates help her find the products she was looking for, they use in-store mobile apps to find her things and even successfully cross sell a few things more than what she was looking for. Megan walks out a happy customer.

Now what?

Any guarantee she will come back to your shop only for the good experience she had there? What if your competitor gives her a better offer or has stocked things she and her likes usually invest in? Though Megan walked out with your logo on the shopping bag, that’s not going to be enough advertisement for your brand to keep her coming back to you. The moment she walks out she’s in a sea of retailers vying to get her attention. So how do you keep her interested? Simple, show yourself more. People kind of get used to the stuff they see every now and then, that’s the first name that comes to their mind in times of need, like neighbors.

 

You need to build a cocoon of promotions, especially targeted for Megan so that she finds you even when she’s not in your store.

Take the example of Macy’s, if Megan visits their store and browses through straight cut jeans and then leaves buying only a few tops, Macy’s will be sending her texts based on her browsing when there are discounts on the jeans or a seasonal sale. They make sure that whenever she considers buying those jeans again, she’ll think of the retailer.

 
Welcome to the world of personalized marketing out of store. So that when your customer walks out of your store, your brand follows and lingers around just to make an appearance at the right time.

Keep them connected

Your customers use IOT, so should you. If Megan has shopped in your store, she should be able to view her purchase history online, also her online/app recommendations should match her in store browsing. Nike, Walmart and the likes have integrated their channels to provide a well-connected environment for the digital age consumer. Promoting order-online-pick-up-instore, these brands have made sure they are available to their customers out of store as well. Sending text messages for downloading the retailers’ app or with discounts on online purchase are also ways to keep customers connected with the brand out of store.

 

What moves catches the eye

Visual content is 40X more likely to get shared on social media than other types of content. (Buffer, 2014). Eye-catching, short and crisp video promotions on channels like social media and via e-mail campaigns will garner attention from the customers out of store as well. Let’s take the example of Facebook itself, they make videos out of our activities (friendship anniversaries, Facebook anniversaries etc.) and we share them instantly. So, how about sending a personalized video with the season’s new launch of straight cut jeans to Megan?

 

Omnichannel promotion rollout

Not just store windows and shelves, promotions need to go out and about to keep the consumer hooked. So the promotions need to be planned for your Omnichannel rollout. Same offers should be available online, instore and on app. So, if you are sending Megan a 50% discount voucher on her next purchase, she shouldn’t be under the pressure to find and walk into a shop to redeem it.

 

Discover social

“Nearly one-third of the world uses social networks regularly. This makes the platform one of the most powerful channels to reach your customers out of store. Take the example of Amazon, a Twitter account holder can directly add an item from Twitter to their Amazon shopping cart immediately, if the product displays an Amazon code. All they have to do is reply by #AmazonCart.

The millennial customer wants the best, custom tailored personalization served on all platforms they can interact with you. If you can do that, you will have them coming back else you have lost them.
Abhishek Mahajan, Sr. Manager Retail, Aspire Systems.

 

Cross Promotion

Promote your brand along with other brands to get more attention out of store. Give out a gift voucher when someone buys a specific detergent, put a promo code with a handbag that gives discount on the customer’s next purchase in your store. So when Megan is purchasing in different stores for different products, your brand is still present. Amazon has targeted PC owners and iPhone owners separately with their Kindle for the PC and Kindle for the iPhone marketing strategy. So when a person is getting an iPhone, he/she is opening up the possibility of getting the Kindle for iPhone as well.

 

Geo fencing

Targeted, personalized texts and app notifications in store is a reality now, like Macy’s is already trending in the market. Geo fencing though is still a relatively fresh endeavor. Whenever Megan is around the area of your shop, in whichever part of the country, you can send her targeted messages with geo fencing. Let’s say it is Christmas time and Megan is just around the corner, if you are a coffee shop, you can send her a text saying ‘why not take a rest from all that holiday shopping and sip a cuppa at our nearest café? We are giving you a special 20% off on a cappuccino and croissant combo”.

 

Technology is expanding, everything is getting connected. People are moving from one decision to another, one product to the other at a very fast pace. No one is looking for a limiting experience. So, retailers need to buckle up and be reachable through all the available channels.. So, don’t wait for Megan to step into your store to give her another great shopping experience, because your competitors are waiting to lure her in a with an on time targeted promotion on Facebook.


Author: Shreyasee Ghosh, Research Analyst

Practice Head: Abhishek Mahajan, Digital Retail