There’s one simple but proven way for retailers to turn each store location into a customer acquisition channel, and, according to Nichole Dyer, it has an @ symbol at the center of it.
The Shopify product marketing manager recognizes that most retailers already know the value of capturing customer email addresses, but she’s also aware that it’s a process with potential pitfalls. For example, store employees may feel uncomfortable about asking for that information and it’s easy for email addresses to get misspelled.
That’s why she recommends that retailers consider using a tool such as Shopify’s email capture at POS Checkout, which enables them to capture email addresses as part of the checkout process. Email capture at POS checkout makes collecting customer information seamless, by connecting in-store purchases on Shopify POS to buyers in the Shop network. When customers are found, their email can be automatically surfaced at POS checkout. Customers get one-tap digital receipts, and retailers acquire new customers.
“Not only are they increasing the number of emails that they can actively market to but they’re also able to create customer segments to build tailored, proactive marketing campaigns,” Dyer says. “They’re no longer just shoppers; they’re known buyers.”
Getting to better know shoppers is key to creating an improved customer experience, which is also the goal behind a recent partnership between Shopify and Google Cloud. By making the Shopify platform available in the Google Cloud Marketplace, for example, and launching new features on YouTube Shopping, the two companies are empowering innovation across the retail sector.
Of course, innovation requires thinking ahead. Dyer recommends getting started by envisioning a future-oriented retail strategy based on three key attributes:
1. A platform for customer engagement
Dyer says customer engagement is more than monitoring what people are doing in a store or a website. It’s really the art of gaining a deeper understanding of who your customers are. With the right platform, you can stay on top of all the relevant details, including inventory reports about trending products. If there’s a spike in certain purchases, for example, retailers can prevent stockouts and keep customers browsing for their next favorite item.
“Having inventory reports on hand, automating whatever you can to stay ahead, and constantly engaging with your customers is going to produce incredibly rich data on the back end,” she says.
2. An ecosystem of solutions
If you have zero flexibility in your tech stack and ecosystems, it’s going to be difficult to adapt to changing market conditions and customer expectations. Unfortunately, Dyer says, many retailers are stuck with rigid legacy systems at the mercy of a specific vendor’s product road map. As a result, staff members wind up having to do tedious workarounds to meet emerging needs.
“Through having an ecosystem approach, retailers are able to custom-build the best solution based on their business strategy,” Dyer says.
“The collaboration between Shopify and Google Cloud is a great example,” she adds. “With Shopify, these apps look and integrate so seamlessly. And it allows the retailer to optimize their implementation, and most importantly, offer a compelling and above-average customer experience.”
3. Advanced analytics
There are a lot of out-of-the-box insights retailers can gather through their existing tools, Dyer says. With a data exchange platform such as Google’s Analytics Hub, for example, it becomes easy to compare factors such as online and physical store performance in different markets. The key, she says, is to upskill staff around customer engagement to ensure that every customer touchpoint is producing more granular data in the future.
“Your store really needs to think about all the aspects of a customer’s interaction and purchase journey,” she says, “and every single one of those aspects can be optimized.”
Shopify and Google Cloud are working together to help retailers get ahead of spikes in customer demand. Learn more about Shopify’s high-performance platform and all the ways you can use it with Google Cloud Marketplace.