Web-to-store: How to sell more in-store through your online store?
In 2018, nearly 3 out of 4 Quebec internet users visit the websites of stores around them before going to a physical store to make a purchase.
This phenomenon is called web-to-store!
We talked about it in our article on 2019 web trends a few months ago.
And with its famous annual survey NETendances, Cefrio confirms that this trend is on the rise in the past year, with 72% usage among Quebecers.
In 2019, smartphones have accentuated this trend, with their super-fast network where any question finds an answer in seconds.
Comparing prices, knowing more about a product, or even asking for opinions from family or friends, window shopping has turned into screen shopping.
What is web-to-store?
Initially, web-to-store was about people searching for products online, comfortably at home, before going to a store to make their purchases. They knew they would find their product, they knew its price, and all the necessary information to make a purchase in a few seconds.
Its advantage: not having to go back and forth between several stores to find the right product and being able to buy it from the store offering the best price.
With the advent of smartphones, web-to-store has evolved, and new behaviors have emerged.
This search is not only done from home but sometimes in the downtown they visit or in the commercial area where they are located.
In 2019, more than 3 out of 4 Canadians have a smartphone that allows them to quickly browse the web anytime, anywhere.
This figure will continue to increase in 2019, and smartphones will increasingly be at the heart of buying behaviors.
In 2019, the smartphone dictates your customers’ purchases
After replacing our good old landline phones, our calculators, our cameras, our postcards… smartphones are on their way to replacing the advice of salespeople.
When salespeople become mere cashiers.
Still based on the Cefrio’s NETendances survey, in 2018, 56% of Quebecers look for information in-store about the product they are going to buy. Preferring the objective comments and opinions of people who have tested it to the subjective advice of a salesperson trying (for them) to simply sell more.
Interaction with salespeople simply happens for purchasing the product.
Moreover, more than one in three people compare prices on their smartphone in-store to make sure they are buying a product at the right price.
Finally, another major trend on the rise: taking a photo of a product to ask for advice from friends and family.
Who hasn’t already taken a photo of a piece of clothing to ask their partner/friend for advice, or sent a photo of a product that’s a bit too technical for them (computer, mechanical…) to a friend/family member who is knowledgeable about the subject to confirm the quality of the product? Anyway, I have, like 38% of Quebecers according to the Cefrio survey.
With buyers becoming less open to professional advice in-store and having formed their own opinions before arriving in-store, how should retailers evolve to increase their sales in the face of these new behaviors and not lose potential customers?
How to take advantage of this new trend?
The inevitable solution will of course be to be present on the internet with an online store.
Online shopping represented $10.5 billion in Quebec in 2018, up 27% from 2017. In 2019, this figure will continue to increase. You must take a slice of this cake!
With such spectacular figures, it is certain that your competitors are already online. So you need to stand out and be visible to your potential customers when they are researching.
Actions to take to sell more in the face of these new trends
Put ALL your product inventory online
Even what you don’t sell online!
By putting all your inventory online, your visitors will know what they will find in your store. If it’s not online, it means you don’t sell it.
Moreover, by creating a product sheet for your entire inventory, you will create new web pages that will be indexed by Google and some may be well referenced on queries from potential customers.
Write blog posts about your best-selling products.
According to the Cefrio survey, 56% of Quebecers use their smartphone in-store to compare prices of products online.
Put yourself in their shoes, what search will they do to compare your product to the competition? You must ensure that your articles highlighting your products catch their eye to reassure them about making the purchase.
Write articles about:
- The advantages of your product compared to the competition. (Ex. Product A vs Product B: Which one to choose?)
- A review of your products to reassure them and show them all the advantages and be able to answer the questions they have. (Ex. We’re testing Product A: our results!)
- The possibilities to meet a need, and in the content highlight your product in a relevant way.
- A simple presentation of all the features / advantages of your product or how to use it.
Conduct competitive monitoring to know your competitors and adjust accordingly
Thanks to the survey, we also know that one in three people will compare your product with the competition before buying, you must know your competitors.
And for that, you must constantly update yourself: know the news, the prices… Evolve according to your competitors but also create novelty and the little extra so that your customers have a reason to choose you, and not your competitor’s product.
Write complete and relevant product descriptions
In addition to showing your professionalism and product knowledge and guiding visitors to buy your products, you will improve the SEO of your product pages.
Why?
- Because the more keywords there are in the content of your page, the more your product page will be indexed in searches.
- Thanks to these longer descriptions, your visitors will stay longer on your pages. And for Google, the higher the average time spent on a page, the higher its relevance must be. And therefore, the better the ranking of your online store!
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Micheal Villeneuve is the President and founder of Laradev. Laradev is certified in Laravel development, specializes in universal application, and offers training and support.