Do your physical stores have a system in place to collect accurate traffic data? Are you using that information and applying those insights to optimize your conversion rates? If you think this responsibility lies outside the realm of loss prevention, you may want to reconsider: many of the systems that now perform LP functions also have retail traffic counting capabilities.
The huge jump in online shopping means that brick-and-mortar traffic is declining. Thus, the key is to convert those customers who do enter the store. But there’s a range of variables that impact conversion rates, and it can be challenging to know where to focus your attention.
[text_ad use_post=’128086′]
Mark Ryski, trend analyst and contributing writer, delves into conversion optimization possibilities and challenges in the retail space in his feature article for the September-October 2017 issue of LP Magazine. From the issue:
In physical stores, many variables impact conversion rates, including store layout, inventory levels, merchandising mix, promotional activity, and most importantly, the front-line associates and managers who run the store and serve customers. And herein lies the challenge with CRO for brick-and-mortar retailers—variability. This variability in physical stores not only makes consistently applying conversion improvement initiatives across stores a challenge but also makes measuring results more challenging.
Furthermore, new in-store service features like “buy online, pick up in-store” (BOPIS) make calculating and interpreting conversion rates trickier. Think about it. When customers buy online and then pick up their orders in-store, store traffic increases, but conversion rates decrease since the sales transaction was already captured online and therefore not attributed to the traffic count captured when the customer visited the store to pick up his or her order.
Check out the full article, “Conversion Rate Optimization,” to discover how A/B testing can be done in physical stores and what benefits can be gleaned from optimizing your retail traffic conversion rate.
You can also read the other articles in the September—October 2017 issue of LP Magazine by going to the Table of Contents. Not yet subscribed? No problem – register here for free.
This post was originally published in 2o17 and was updated November 15, 2017.