Unceasing Importance of the In-Store Experience

It’s clear that the trend from in-store to online shopping has accelerated. However, this doesn’t mean that the importance of retail stores has diminished. While many customers see convenience in being able to shop online, there is still a significant portion of customers who prefer to visit brick and mortar retail locations to do their shopping. Based on a survey by PwC, the physical store remains the retail touch point with the highest frequency.

Retailers are often skeptical about any cost and disruption involved in changing anything to do with physical stores, but they must not ignore that the in-store experience is a key link in the omnichannel experience for customers. Retailers need to be able to provide a seamless customer experience, especially in physical retail stores.

Customers Still Appreciate Brick and Mortar Retail

There are several reasons why people still prefer to do their shopping at an actual retail store. For one, retail stores are accessible. People can visit a brick and mortar store and see and feel the merchandise they want to purchase, and if they decide they want to buy something, they can take it with them then and there. Customers in-store are able to avoid shipping costs and any uncertainty about receiving the product they purchased. Also, customers value the personal experience they are able to receive in a physical retail store; they appreciate face-to-face interaction and customer support they receive from sales associates in-store. A preference for an in-store shopping experience is also partly because people feel overall more comfortable speaking with another person as opposed to having to trust technology when shopping online.

Significance of Retail Store Employees

Retail employees uphold and represent a retail brand. If customers don’t have a good experience with the people representing the retail store, it can be damaging to the brand – not just in-store but online as well. A poor in-store customer experience can be much more influential than a bad online shopping experience because customers have expectations for their in-store experience. In addition, people are typically more likely to write a negative review than a positive one, and a negative review is usually positioned towards the brand while positive reviews are usually about specific people (sales reps/ associates).

Employing people who deliver on customers’ expectations is crucial for a retailer’s overall success. With online shopping becoming more popular, as well as delivering an omnichannel experience, retailers need to be able to bring online and offline together and stay relevant. Providing a strong customer experience in-store is a great first step.

CareerPlug Can Help

CareerPlug can help you find the retail employees that are going to uphold the integrity of your retail store. With the use of personality and cognitive assessments, you can identify specific competencies that you believe would be most beneficial for candidates to have. Testing candidates for competencies such as service orientation and sales potential will help you gauge if they would be a good fit for the available retail position. Benchmarking star team members can also be very helpful in being able to identify candidates who have the necessary qualities to be successful in the retail setting.

Contact one of our hiring experts today and see how CareerPlug can help your retail store.

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