Importance of Diverse Shopping Options for Your Customer Experience
Flexibility and convenience are at the heart of consumers.
The world has changed its decision-making processes and values regarding lifestyles and preferences. Businesses around the globe must therefore adapt accordingly.
This is especially true for the retail world.
Over 50% of consumers have rethought and changed their purpose and re-evaluated what’s important for them in life. 42% indicate that they have changed their buying habits accordingly.
Brands and retailers have an important yet challenging role in keeping up with these changing habits.
One of the things that brands are starting to offer more of is the convenience and flexibility of shopping options.
For example, Costco Canada has recently partnered with Instacart to launch same-day grocery delivery services from 76 Costco warehouses across Canada.
Consumers can shop from fresh produce, meat, seafood, snacks, frozen goods, pet essentials, and more on the Instacart app and have everything delivered to their door in as little as two hours. The best thing is you don’t need a Costco membership to make a delivery order.
For brands and retailers, offering convenient and flexible shopping is vital to providing a memorable customer experience that draws people back every time.
Some options that many are already offering include:
- Buy online pick-up in-store;
- Curbside/contactless pick-up;
- Express shipping;
- Purchasing online and in-app;
- And more.
In addition, customers want to see opportunities to gain even more flexibility and a seamless omnichannel shopping experience.
Returning items purchased online can sometimes create friction for eCommerce shoppers since some brands only allow online returns or a shipping fee for online returns.
When brands offer options like buy online and return in-store, they give shoppers full control to initiate the return process themselves.
It removes a lot of hassle from the post-purchase experience, such as finding the original packaging and return label and making a special trip to the post office.
Because the in-store shopping experience offers elements that cannot be replaced by online shopping, such as more personal human interaction, customers who return items in-store are generally more likely to buy a few new things on the way out.
Regardless of where your customers are shopping, Storesupport offers a range of solutions for fulfilment support, such as delivery and curbside pick-up order execution and inventory management.
We have the tools and expertise needed to help you offer diverse, streamlined shopping options and deliver a more convenient and flexible customer experience.
Learn more about how you can leverage Storesupport by calling 1-877-421-5081 or visiting www.storesupport.ca.
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