According to the Association of German Retail (Handelsverband Deutschland, HDE), online business was once more able to extend its position on the market in the run up to Christmas last year. In the last two months of the last year, online retailers are estimated to have generated 27 percent of their annual turnover. Compared to the year before, that is equivalent to an increase of 12 percent. Statistics confirm what we already know from our own experience as a customer: the product you want must be easily available to order online. For brick and mortar retail this means that they must take an active cross channel approach if they are to keep up with the competition on the internet.
Benefits of cross channel
Everyone knows from their own experience: If you are looking for a particular product you want to be able to get it quickly and easily. In the run up to Christmas in particular no-one wants to push and shove their way through the crowds and then come away empty handed after not finding anything suitable or even facing empty shelves. How handy it is to be able to enter the item you are looking for quickly and conveniently from the comfort of your own home and arrange for it to be delivered directly to your home without the hassle of searching in town. And that at a reasonable price and from a huge selection.
If a brick and mortar retailer is to be successful, products should not only be available for order in store but also online. The price must be right as well and a wide selection available. In summary: Cross channel is enormously important for the retail trade in order to be able to meet the customer’s needs, in other words: high availability, reasonable prices and a huge product range, preferably online.
If they are to be available online for end customers, brick and mortar retailers must use a cross channel strategy. The solution: the connected store. With the brodos.net Kiosk in store, customers can choose from over 250,000 products. The brodos.net online shop depicts the retailer’s entire product range online, allowing the entire product portfolio to be accessed conveniently from the customer’s home. Customers can therefore take their time to make their selection online, and arrange for the goods to be delivered either to store or to their home.
With StoreShip we can also provide brick and mortar retail with the best purchase price. The StoreShip price analyses pricing trends for all products listed in the Brodos.net product catalogue, whilst also offering manufacturers feedback on their own products. Manufacturers can then respond faster to price fluctuations or rapid price drops and local retailers can offer end customers reasonable prices revised on a day by day basis.
Scoring with service and advice
Even if it seems convenient to buy from Amazon and co. as en end customer, if the product is defective and has to be exchanged customers are faced with a problem. Not if they purchased from a local retailer. In this instance, the retailer can offer the end customer an additional benefit with good service and advice in store. Especially in the Christmas business, being able to exchange a product or have any other complaints dealt with is a very special additional service which customers appreciate and are happy to take advantage of if it is offered.
