Web-To-Store: Def & Examples To Attract Customers To The Store

When discussing in-store retail, the definition of web-to-store quickly comes to the table. This technique consists of a set of web marketing strategies and levers that merchants use to generate traffic at the point of sale :

by playing the proximity card,
by enhancing the physical reception,
by giving unmissable appointments to customers in their stores.

91% of consumers search for information online before buying to compare the features and prices of a product (source Wavestone). Discover the definition of the web to store, its advantages, and examples of strategies and levers to activate.

Table of Contents

What Is Web-To-Store?

Web To Store: Definition

The definition of web-to-store is as follows: going online before going to a physical store to buy the coveted products. The web-to-store, therefore, offers a sales cycle that includes all online actions and levers that:

encourage the Internet user to visit the store,
give him information about the nearest store or the item he is looking for.

It responds to a new consumer purchasing behavior, ROPO (research online purchase offline) or ROBO (research online by offline ), “search online, buy in the store.” It’s the opposite of the store-to-web, which sends the customer a sign to its e-commerce site to purchase a product that is not or is no longer available at the point of sale.

Web-To-Store: 7 Advantages

The web-to-store has several advantages for local businesses, which:

hits a more prominent target and therefore benefits from better visibility;
benefits from additional communication support, in particular for its promotional operations;
collects customer reviews and thus reassures potential buyers;
is present where its competitors are ;
conveys an image of modernity, responding to new uses;
eliminates delivery times and avoids shipping costs;
encourages additional sales thanks to the proximity between seller and buyer.

Does The Web Store Have Any Drawbacks Or Constraints?

This strategy ultimately has few drawbacks, as it offers “the best of both worlds” to consumers. It is possible :

to take the time to learn about and compare products online without feeling the pressure of a salesperson in a store,
while leaving the possibility of visiting the nearest store to see, try, and touch the product before buying.

Finally, the only constraint would be to have a website and a minimal marketing strategy to attract customers to the store and give them a more human shopping experience than online.

Location-Based Local Services, The Keystone Of A Web-To-Store Strategy

Click And Collect: One Click For Accessible In-Store Collection

60% of abandoned carts are because of too high shipping costs (source: Convertize ). The principle of click-and-collect makes it possible to overcome this by eliminating shipping costs, in particular:

the Internet user orders his product online,
then chooses to withdraw it at a physical point of sale.

Product Locator And Store Locator: Geolocated Products And Stores

Geolocation is the basis of these techniques:

A product locator service allows Internet users to find the product they want by offering:
the nearest point of sale,
where the stock is sufficient to satisfy its demand,
or by allowing him to check the availability of the product in the supply of his usual store;
a store locator service enables the Internet user to find the store near where he is or near his municipality.

Some collaborative mobile applications offer to display geolocated advertisements, like Waze. Their use can be reasonable when several large signs are grouped in commercial areas to signal your presence to motorists who stop nearby.

Your Google My Business Page, Your Store’s Showcase On Google Maps

Your point of sale is geolocated in Google Maps. You provide your customer with the information he is looking for and encourage him to come to the store by: pictures,

the URL of your website,
associated customer reviews,
opening hours,
telephone number, etc.

Web-To-Store: 3 Examples Of Devices That Work

Careful Product Sheets And website

To respond to consumer demand for information and promote your products, you broadcast on the internet:

descriptive sheets of your products,
photos, videos, or enriched multimedia supports,
several descriptions of the same effect on different channels (catalogs, marketplaces, e-commerce sites, etc.).

A product information management platform (PIM, or Product Information Management ) like Afineo PIM allows you to keep control over the diversity of information from various sources and:

centralize your product information and keep it up to date;
organize and index your media (photos, videos, sounds, PDF, etc.);
to adapt and enrich the information of each product according to the distribution channel;
to avoid the duplication of text content (essential not to harm the natural referencing of web pages), etc.

Multi-Channel Business Operations

Many promotional operations start online and bring traffic to businesses.

Via Digital Push Devices

We can name the email or mobile to store among the push actions. The concept? Launch promotions or exclusive offers, valid only from the channel used (emailing, notification on application, or even SMS), encouraging the user to go to the store.

Via Drive-To-Store Games

The games have the advantage of being fun, popular, and creating a buzz! The Zadig & Voltaire brand has understood this well with its online operation “I should have been a cowboy”:

the winners received discount coupons to use on the new collection;
all participants won a T-shirt to collect in the store.

Through A Loyalty Program

Be part of a club where loyalty is rewarded with benefits and services reserved for members: here is a web-to-store strategy that allows you to forge long-term commercial links. All the customer has to do is create their account to take advantage of preferential rates and exclusive advantages online and in-store. A mobile application makes it possible to concentrate on all the advantages of the loyalty program, like that of Yves Rocher & Moi.

An Enriched And Streamlined Customer Experience

The Responsiveness From The First Online Contact

The customer relationship has become conversational and omnichannel. Responding quickly is essential. Anticipate questions with solutions and personalized offers to discover in-store even better! Save the history of your exchanges. A communications management solution helps you deliver digital customer service, like RingCentral Experience Client. You manage interactions on a single platform from which you can engage in conversation with your customers on:

social networks,
the forums,
messaging tools,
emails,
contact forms,
and even review platforms.

Online Appointment Booking To Organize The Arrival Of Customers

Online appointment booking is an essential web-to-store strategy for brands providing services to generate a constant flow of customers at the point of sale. By using a dedicated solution, such as Agendize :

you entrust the customer with the task of reserving the slot of his choice with complete autonomy,
you optimize your booking schedules,
you maximize your dating opportunities.

In retail, the appointment allows you to plan your visit to collect an online order, as with click and organize.

A Signposted And Digitized Purchase Path To The Point Of Sale

Bring digital to the store for the most in-a-hurry, autonomous, hyper-connected customers:

install interactive terminals capable of guiding them;
equip your sellers with touch tablets to offer them a personalized experience.

Augmented stores have become an extension of the shopping journey started on the web. The boundaries between the web and the physical world are finally blurring, and the customer experience is becoming unique.

The Challenges Of The Web To Store

Faced with ever more connected customers, the user experience on digital tools must be carefully thought out. To create a fluid and phygital customer journey, remove any blockages or possible friction points and focus on the comfort provided to the customer during their purchase:

choice of withdrawal method,
completeness of information,
the intuitiveness of the web platform used, etc.

Customers are also increasingly demanding and want to have a personalized customer experience. Build up a solid customer database that can trace all the history of behaviors and exchanges that have taken place between customers and your brand.