Review
Reconsider
React
Reimagine
Reidentify
Reconnect
Realign
Reinvent
Repurpose
Reward
Share
Action Step 4
Reimagine selling avenues.
Leading up to COVID-19, many retailers had yet to incorporate an omnichannel strategy despite the push for it in recent years. Others, however, were well integrated online with selling avenues overlapping from their own website, marketplace sites such as eBay and Amazon and for many, brick and mortar stores, as well. So when retail came to a screeching, unexpected halt due toCOVID-19, these retailers were better positioned to take the lead and capture sales online. Yet shifting gears was not so easy for those who had yet to implement a stronger retail strategy.
COVID-19 has accelerated the need for retailers to move their physical inventory online in order to take advantage of curbside pickup.
Questions you might have
- Can I get all my inventory listed on my current website with no ecommerce set up? Yes.
- If I have no website, can I still do curbside pick up? Yes.
SKU IQ can support you with any of the following challenges:
- I am sitting on inventory and need to sell it using an Ecommerce website, but I have no budget to build a website or way to display inventory online.
- I want my customers to be able to order online and curbside or instore pick up. I need a platform to add these technical capabilities fast.
- I want my inventory online for customers to view, reserve, and then pick up.
The lack of ability to shift gears – or lack of financial resources caused by slower sales –shouldn’t impact the ability to bring their customers the most compelling online experience possible. Merchants have the ability to update their online stores more easily than ever thanks to commerce platforms that make it nearly turn-key, ultimately allowing them to focus time and energy on other areas of the business that could drive revenue and customer experience, including:
- BOPIS (Buy Online, Pick-Up In-Store
- Curb-side Pickup
- Enhanced Shipping Options
- Social Media Sales
- Mobile Orders
And not to be ignored here in every avenue of sales is good, old fashioned customer care!Personalization is key. In fact, in a recent report from Avionos, 36% of customers revealed they expect personalized product recommendations on website homepages, up from 28% in 2019.This increased expectation of customized product choices and care is a critical component to those retailers who excel online versus those who are leaving dollars in the dust. Another key component? Payment options.
As customers cross lanes and take their own twists and turns as shoppers, welcoming payments that may not be a traditional credit card is essential, as well. Among them include:
- Installment Payment Options such as Klarna, QuadPay, AfterPay
- Apple Pay
- Google Pay
- Amazon Pay
- Stripe
- Square
- Venmo
Retailers should definitely consider building out an omnichannel retail strategy that goes beyond brick and mortar, as right now, not all shoppers are going to want to return to in-store shopping due to health and safety concerns. This means adding an ecommerce/online sales channel, leveraging social media to drive sales such as Instagram Shopping offers and more. It’simportant to provide customers options right now.
-Kaleigh Moore, Forbes contributor
Action Step
Looking to simplify your online store management? Retailers can simplify their brand’s ability to quickly build new and edit existing webpages with commerce based platforms that have stores ready to go with customized options available. Drag-and-drop blocks of content called widgets – including individual products, carousels, text blocks, branded images and video, promotional banners, buy buttons, blocks of custom HTML and more – make it easy for retailers to make these sites their own, expanding their opportunity to capture sales along the way
- WooCommerce
- Shopify
- BigCommerce
