As seen from the details shared within the infographic accompanying this post, retailers have between a one in six or a one in seven chance of selling to an existing customer. Whereas they’ll only have between a 5% to 20% chance of successfully selling to a new one. This disparity between customers is widely recognized throughout the retail industry, however many retailers fail to invest into keeping their existing customers happy. Instead, they continue to utilize their marketing budgets toward new customer acquisition strategies. How can retail organizations find a way to balance their attention toward both of these customer bases?

For any retailer currently struggling in determining ways to improve their dynamic revenue growth, this post should detail some of the most sound ways to do so. Through a two-pronged approach focused on online and in-store sales tactics, any retailer can create a memorable shopping experience for their customers. The sales tactics that make up this approach are known as upselling (in physical retail stores) and cross-selling (through online web stores).

As COVID-19 continues to surge through the United States, an omnichannel marketing strategy is almost a necessity for any retail organization. Long-standing retailers may have feelings of hesitation when it comes to mixing the online and the offline, but the capabilities of any retailer instantly expand when they’re able to effectively integrate digital and online strategies into their retail locations.

Of some of the most important benefits of this dual pronged strategy, exposure from a retailer’s digital presence is atop the list. This is largely in part due to the shopping behavior of most customers today. On average, the range of time a customer spends in a retail store is between fifteen minutes to an hour. Once they leave, it will take them returning to the store to interact with them again unless retailers dedicate their efforts to the digital side of things. Through a number of specific strategies, these retailers can use these digital channels to attract more customers to their physical locations. One of the most common examples of this is seen through posting an in-store exclusive sale on any digital platform in hopes to attract online-only shoppers into the store.

Building off of this exposure, an additional benefit of these dual-headed strategies is the amount of personalization that customers receive. Communicating with customers outside of retail locations simplifies the personalization process. Through e-mail and text communication, customers are able to receive tailored messages that detail product or service recommendations based on previous purchases or upcoming sales related to those purchases. While this is much easier to accomplish online, it is still possible to personalize the experience for in-store shoppers. Digital efforts made in store have the ability to attract potential customers as well. For example, a retailer specializing in appliances can invest in digital material or signage to convey important information to customers searching their aisles. Most commonly, this is seen through customer reviews and product details displaying on a monitor nearest a set of appliances.

Finally, through the use of targeted digital techniques in-store, these strategies ensure the brand experience doesn’t end as the customer leaves the store. One of the ways retail businesses have been doing this is through spreading samples to customers checking out in-store, for a product that is an online-exclusive. If a customer becomes interested in this product, they’ll be able to return to your businesses’ online portal and purchase it. Buy-Online Pickup-In Store has added an additional element of attracting these customers back to physical retail locations after they research these sample products. This technique allows returning customers to find additional products they may have missed during their initial visit. This is omnichannel marketing in action.

If your retail organization is struggling adapting to these strategies, be sure to check out the infographic featured alongside this post for more information. Courtesy of IDL Displays