The pandemic changed the way we did many things. One of the things that are not going to be the same as it used to be in 2019 is shopping. Yes, eCommerce is gaining more popularity, but brick and mortar is not dead.
People still like to go to the store to have the whole shopping experience. However, shopping in-store during a pandemic is not the same as shopping used to look a few years ago. People go to the store to escape their homes and to purchase products more conveniently while also taking a few steps.
In this article, we are going to talk about one thing that definitely changed: How much time we spend inside brick and mortar stores. Brands and retailers need to find ways to attract the attention of their customers fast and encourage people to buy more.
Time spent in-store
Shopping was never just about purchasing products. It was about walking to the store, smelling the freshly-baked bread, trying out those tasty food samples, checking out the latest offers, and overall having the whole shopping experience.
However, the way we shopped changed during the lockdown. We are now taking safety precautions, the smell of bread is faded by the strong scent of disinfectant and those tasty samples are nowhere to be found. Even in these conditions, people still love to go shopping. It’s a great way to unwind, take your mind off of work, and select the perfect products.
Before the pandemic started, people used to spend, on average, 41 minutes grocery shopping. During the weekend, people used to stay up to 1 hour inside grocery stores.
In the spring of 2020, most non-essential stores were closed and people were reticent when they needed to go to the grocery store. Now, a year into the pandemic, people are used to the restriction, and foot traffic is increasing in stores. However, retailers noticed that people are spending less time inside their shops.
What does this mean for retailers and brands?
Reports show that the more time people spend in-store, the more products they add inside their cart, ending up spending more money. Now that customers tend to do their shopping quickly, retailers need to figure out a way to encourage people to buy more.
3 tactics to increase sales when people spend less time in-store
1. Catchy campaigns with robotic POP displays
During the pandemic, even those who didn’t understand the use of technology ended up loving it. People love gadgets and anything that can entertain them or make their lives easier. Tokinomo, the robotic POP display offers them an amazing experience that they can share.
For your brand it means word-of-mouth marketing, for your customers, it means immediate entertainment. Also, your sales can increase by 200% during the campaign. Why? Tokinomo uses sound, light, and motion technology to make products promote themselves. This grabs the attention of your shoppers in a matter of seconds.
You’ve got their attention? Then you’ve also got a chance for your product to be purchased.
2. Attract attention with bold colors
Another way to attract the attention of shoppers is to focus on bold colors and messages. People are hard to disrupt nowadays. Just think about how well we multitask. We are used to receiving hundreds of notifications, talking to people while working, and listening to music while reading an email.
For retailers to make people lift their eyes from the grocery list and look at other products, they need to be bold and reinvent the arrangement of the products.
3. Make everything convenient for shoppers
Convenience is key during this pandemic. People want to come to the store, shop, enjoy their time, and leave as fast as possible. How can you help them leave faster while also spending more money? By making it convenient for them to shop.
Products need to be placed so that they can be reached easily and people need to have a self-checkout. They spend less time staying in line and you end up spending less money.
Also, you could consider providing a BOPIS option for your customers. They can take as long as they want to select the products and purchase them online, but they come to the store to collect them. Who knows? Maybe they see something they like in the store and end up purchasing more than intended at first.
Retailers and brands need to adapt constantly to new trends and extreme situations, like this pandemic. Customers expect you to offer them the best services and products. If not, they will go to your competition without thinking twice.
These tactics should help you attract your customers' attention to make sure that they spend more money, even though they spend less time inside the store.
