A Wren Says

People love online shopping. I like online shopping. It is convenient. You can look at multiple options while binging Netflix and with unpresentable hair. But you can’t touch anything. And after years of being fearful of touching, I want to touch something. Not to mention, I, like I imagine others do, want what I want today. Preferably right now. Even an hour’s drive gets me that product at least a day sooner.

But I myself am stretched between online and in-store as a consumer. In some cases, it is negative in-store-experiences that give me pause. But truthfully, often the online promotions make it so much more enticing to order instead. I’m looking at you Sephora, with your samples and beauty offers galore, and you credit card online shopping deals. I know for myself, that online promotions don’t necessarily get me to make new purchases. It just makes me buy the thing I would have already bought online, instead of taking the trip in-store to buy the exact same thing. Not because it is more convenient, but because there is a greater value for me. This is cannibalization. The retailer is eating into its own sales. It is its own competition.

Knowing myself and my spending habits, if there were comparable benefits to going in store as there were online, I would shift accordingly. These are the things that I personally think stores could do in order to get me (possibly other customers) to make more of their purchases in store. 

• Offer products that are only available in-store only: Store exclusive colors, designs
• Offer loyalty discounts or benefits that are only available in store, like gifts with purchase
• Provide special benefits for ordering through the store vs at home, such as free shipping despite cart total
• In-store experiences such as free alterations, fittings, and consultations or events

None of these things are exciting brand-new ideas. In fact, some of these things are the bastion of the online space. What the store has to add that online cannot is experience. I don’t mean the parties and yoga classes that that brands have offered. I mean customer service. None of the promotions a brand offers mean anything to me if I am not treated well in the store. But treat me well, and you have a loyal customer who will support your brand above all others.

As much as I like free, or semi-free things, I want to be connected to people and feel valued as a person myself. Try as it might, the internet can’t do that well. (Admittedly, I haven’t entered the metaverse, so there is still hope.) For me the real beauty of in-store shopping is excellent customer service, but I don’t mind a perk here and there.