How Can Retailers Attract In-Store Customers?

ChaseDesign survey shows most people will do more shopping in stores this year

4/20/2022

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ChaseDesign survey respondents agreed that Target Corp. offers the best in-store experience.

Choosing products in person, getting advice from staff and seeing what’s new are all reasons that shoppers are excited to get back into brick-and-mortar stores, according to a recent survey by global design firm ChaseDesign. In fact, 85% of respondents said that they plan to do more in-store shopping this year than they did last year.

While shopping trips will be on the rise, services like online ordering and curbside pickup are seeing declines over 2021, making it even more imperative for retailers to make digital investments in their stores to attract and retain customers.

“Following nearly two years of building e-commerce into their buying patterns, shoppers are demanding a new physical-store experience that integrates the digital benefits they’ve gotten used to,” said Joe Lampertius, president of ChaseDesign. “This means creating a more convenient, rewarding and fun customer journey through the store.”

Retailers should leverage omnichannel and e-commerce expertise to bring new experiences to their stores, Lampertius advised, adding that they should employ technology like artificial intelligence, virtual reality, QR codes and apps.

Among tech-enabled solutions, ChaseDesign found that customers believe self-checkout, QR codes and retailer apps were most important in helping to improve the shopping experience. In fact, shoppers said that self-checkout was their most-used tech tool at physical stores.

“Findings from the ChaseDesign 2022 Shopper Sentiment survey validate the importance of aligning new merchandising offers with changing customer behaviors,” the company said. “For instance, the increased usage of self-checkouts requires a rethinking of marketing at the store’s front end to replace impulse-buy opportunities.”

Survey respondents agreed that Target Corp. offers the best in-store experience. The retailer revealed an investment earlier this year of up to $5 billion to enhance physical stores, digital experiences, fulfillment capabilities and supply chain capacity in 2022 to continue driving growth.

Minneapolis-based Target Corp. is No. 6 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2021 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America, with nearly 1,900 locations.