TIP #1

Brick vs. Click

People continue to increase their shopping online while decreasing their trips to stores. That’s especially true for the new, younger consumers. They care less about physical stores—they grew up with chains and big-box stores and bad service—so they see traditional stores as a negative.

MAKE THE CONNECTION: As Sam Walton famously once said when asked how to compete with Walmart, “It’s easy; just do what we don’t do.” The same is true for small companies competing with huge online companies. Just do what they don’t do—good customer service, excellent product interaction, and terrific store environments, including interesting product displays, for starters.

At WD Partners, we asked consumers to rank the most appealing features of the online and in-store experience in our study, Amazon Can’t Do That. They overwhelmingly ranked two in-store features—instant ownership (79%) and touch and feel (75%)—more appealing than any online shopping feature such as reviews and price comparison tools. Take advantage of that.

TIP #2

A Different Model

The Store of The Future (SOTF) is one that has a really simple online component matched with exemplary customer service and a great “feeling”—stores that people enjoy being in. The SOTF will also get the customer their product any way they want it: buying in-store after a great shopping experience, ordering online and shipping to home, or buying online and picking up in-store.

MAKE THE CONNECTION: The store remains America’s equivalent of the town square. This social activity is an untapped area for innovation for stores. Think about the customer journey within a store: Where do they go? What do they look at? What do they see/smell? Then decide which areas are most important and make sure those are the best you can possibly make them. You don’t have to fix the entire store—focus on areas most important to the customer.

TIP #3

New Retail Technologies

We know from our studies that consumers in today’s digital age are looking for two technology-related changes at retail: a buy online/pick up in-store (BOPIS) option and what we call a “product narrower” tool. That is, how can you help the customer narrow choices in a complex category in a fun way? Sephora is a master at this.

MAKE THE CONNECTION: Small businesses can adopt those tools. BOPIS is about creating a clear, easy, and appealing way for customers to buy from you.

In terms of product-narrowing software, there are many companies out there that offer such tools at a reasonable price. You just have to make the investment and make it yours.

TIP #4

New Way of Selling

It’s hard for stores to compete against cookie-based data collection sites (like Amazon), which personalize a consumer’s online experience like never before.

MAKE THE CONNECTION: The answer is suggestive selling. Stores must bring the well-practiced tool of “if you bought X, you might like Y” within the store and repeat sales based on past purchases.

The good news? Millennials are in the store shopping more frequently than baby boomers and generation X consumers. The bad news is they are not making purchases in the store as often.

Millennials rank the online features of customer reviews and unlimited options as most appealing. Giving them a way to satisfy those needs inside the store is critical.

That’s going to take innovation and creativity. In the next five years, retailers that nail this new formula will win. Simply integrating the latest technology and digital gadgets isn’t enough, though. Stores must empower associates to convert browsing to purchases in the store.