Recently, I was shopping online at a well-known clothing brand. After placing an order, however, I decided to pick the item up in-store.
Upon arriving, the customer service assistant said: “Just so you know, if you don’t want to keep this, you can’t return it here. You’ll need to follow our online returns process, which costs £2.95.”
Frustrated, I left with my item, knowing that if it didn’t fit, I’d be out of pocket. Frankly, I expect retailers/brands to have the will to get this right and, if they don’t, I’m quite happy to swipe on (or use my feet) to the next best option.
Unfortunately, this isn’t an isolated experience. In fact, more than seven in ten UK consumers (71%) avoid purchasing online if there is a return fee, which has a huge impact on brand reputation and profitability.
But maximising the online customer experience for offline interactions is easier said than done. So, what can brands do to address this disconnect and drive deeper connections, repeat business, stronger reviews, and ultimately, more revenue?
The era of online-to-offline commerce
Online-to-Offline (O2O) commerce combines online sales strategies with an in-person experience, prompting virtual shoppers to put down their devices for at least part of the buying journey in favour of visiting the retail store. It treats both online and offline touchpoints as equal or complementary, making it a core element of an omnichannel marketing strategy.
For the brand, a well-executed O2O commerce model can lead to higher revenues – particularly since over a third of consumers (33%) say they’re likely to impulse buy while in-store, driving incremental sales. So, if we can get the experience seamless, then there are benefits to be had both online and offline.
How to optimise online marketing for better offline experiences
Enabling your customers to shop offline after beginning their journey online (or vice versa) can be achieved by following these steps:
Blend online and offline activities
As per my shopping experience above, the most important aspect of O2O retail is allowing customers to move seamlessly between online and offline shopping activities.
Some common examples of O2O tactics include Click and Collect, returning items bought online to a physical store, or apps allowing customers to check stock or place online orders while in-store.
All of these tactics require an inventory management solution that can handle both ecommerce warehouse data and in-store data in real time.
Remove customer data silos
Another key aspect of O2O commerce strategy lies in the vast sea of customer data that companies have at their fingertips. Many companies fail to unify their offline customer shopping data with their online customer data, resulting in silos that make it difficult to gain valuable insights from online channels that could help with offline strategies.
Unifying customer data across channels is a must. Whether ‘active’ data (consciously provided by users e.g. filling in a form), or ‘passive’ data (gathered through interaction or behaviour), together it will give brands a more holistic understanding of where customers are – and how they behave – in their journey from brand awareness to purchase and beyond.
Improve personalisation (with unified data)
Research shows that accurate personalisation leads to improved customer experiences, as well as increased engagement, retention, and revenue.
By leveraging unified data – for instance through tactics that encourage customers to share first-party data – such as a loyalty programme – you can show existing customers items that are available in their local store as recommendations based on previous purchases. Meanwhile, you can also show them recommendations for online purchases based on their in-store purchases.
Prioritise mobile-first design
As we all know, most internet users today (95%) use a mobile phone to go online. Meanwhile, over half of smartphone activities globally involve searching for products or actively buying them, so failing to optimise the UX for on-the-go consumers is no longer an option. So, this device can, and should, be leveraged appropriately to support the customer’s experience.
But while optimising for mobile undoubtedly helps shoppers who prefer online platforms, it also improves O2O customer experiences by providing a seamless mobile experience in-store.
For example, customers could use the brand’s mobile app to scan items to add to their shopping cart while in-store or search in-store stock – a strategy the well-known home furniture brand IKEA utilises in its stores and app.
By putting mobile at the front of the in-store experience, IKEA, who invested $2.2bn in their omnichannel growth strategy in 2023 alone, found that “mobile platforms played the most pivotal role in generating physical store visits, yielding a staggering 80% greater offline return compared to desktop campaigns”.
Digital transformation: the key to a successful O2O commerce strategy
To maximise the online experience for offline interactions, you need to clearly understand how online environments impact offline shopping behaviour – the key to which is building a single view of the customer.
Transforming your O2O commerce capability requires developing new skills in the team, enhancing existing ways of working, collaboration, tech and data – but the resulting improvement in customer experience is proven to impact the bottom line of the business, and deepen customer’s perceptions of your brand.
If you’re looking for digital transformation support and training to enable your O2O commerce strategy, we can help. Contact our team today to learn more.