10 Types of In-Store Marketing Strategies For Businesses

For a small business, attracting customers is the prime focus. 

However,  lots of businesses are more into focusing on their marketing effort to get into their store instead of focusing on how to connect them with the business once they enter. 

There are several major mistakes that businesses make, which affect their overall profit but also the investment in their marketing tactics. 

The basic one forgets to utilize the opportunity when the visitors are in stores. Here you need in-store marketing to make the best of it. 

To know more about in-store marketing and what the types are, here is what will help you. 

What To Know About In-Store Marketing?

Instore marketing is useful for small businesses as it makes use of physical locations such as a showroom or retail shop as a base. 

In this, you use that for performing different activities to market your business instead of focusing on distribution and sales.

Image source: mycustomer

In-store marketing uses strategies and plans to use the chance of being the customer present in the brick-and-mortar business. 

The marketing does not focus on driving customers to the business; it focuses on engaging the arrived customers to invest more in the brand. 

Some common types of in-store marketing help in choosing what will fit your business. 

Common Types Of In-Store Marketing For Small Business 

With the help of in-store marketing, small businesses take their highly reneged prospects i.e. customers in their store for controlling their experience,  dictating their engagement, and leading to the purchase. 

Instore marketing takes control of what happens when the visitors arrive inside your store. 

The process of indulging them in making a purchase and turning them into a customer is what in-store marketing does. 

Here are the types that you will mostly find in this marketing- 

1. Public Relations 

Public relations is using your physical location of the store for developing the relationship with the media as well as stakeholders. It includes partners, employees,  investors, and regulators. 

With public relations, you use the retail location for marketing your business and leading it to awareness among other competitors and potential people. 

2. Customer Service 

Customer service takes the store and physical location to offer the services. It’s much more convenient for customers as they get a better experience than contacting over a phone call using the self-service tools. 

Customer service uses the store for delivering the solution and processing the request. 

For example, it can be a return center for e-commerce businesses. A brand can use a store for helping its customers to return the product instead of asking them to do it on their own. 

3. Bricks & Clicks 

Bricks & Clicks take the physical location for driving more sales in the commerce business. 

It can be an app that is helping their customer integrate their experiences from in-store and online stores together, just by adding items to the eCommerce cart in the store. 

Brick & clicks offers the best of both worlds, where physical stores allow humanizing with the customer and make their brand more established. 

They can maintain their convenience and value in their online stores. 

4. Market Research 

Market research is important for any business. Understanding more about the customer and what they like or dislike helps in predicting lots of things. 

Using the physical store to gain insight into expectations, needs, behavior, and preference of customers for marketing research purposes. 

For example, if you run a food-related store. You can set up your stall and let your visitors taste the new flavor. With this, you can know if they liked it or not. 

Gathered information and data can be used to plan the product launch and other marketing decisions. 

5.  Customer Experience 

Investor experience is considered one of the fundamental parts of the buyer’s journey. With this, a brand can successfully establish its identity and cultivate its culture.

Also, in-store experience gives closure to the business. It gives more space to encounter customers and inform them about the product as well as the brand itself.  

The physical space works as a trustworthy sign and the small business can nurture the relationship with them. 

6.  Price Promotion 

Price promotion plays a vital role when it comes to sales promotion. It works as attracting customers with its price of service and product for a temporary period. 

Image source: theodmgroup

It includes in-store coupons,  sales, etc. like offers that can be used for attracting more customers to the store. 

It includes in-store coupons,  sales, etc. like offers that can be used for attracting more customers to the store. 

7. Customer Advocates 

Customer advocates are helpful for businesses as they promote and advertise the services, products, and brand names itself to other customers for free. 

Such customers are driven by buying satisfaction and genuinely liked the brand approach. 

Creating customer advocates who can speak on the company’s behalf helps the business to establish itself among other audiences. 

Also, it comes more naturally and genuine to someone who never encounters the brand. 

With this, attracting customers becomes much more effective as they trust more when some non-related business recommends them something. 

Using the knowledge after getting it from interaction with the customer to driving the change in services, products, as well as a brand, can be helpful. 

8.  Promotion 

Using in-store space for launching and doing the promotion.  Space is used for hosting events, demonstrations, workshops, distributing samples, and creating activities. 

In-store marketing to create an interactive environment as well as create market messages to boost awareness. 

It can be used for creating as well as achieving objectives like sales targets as well and more brand promotions. 

Instore promotions close the gap between brand and customer. It gives a closure look, and the customer can connect better. 

It is also helpful for letting the customer understand more about what you are selling and boosting trust in the brand. 

9. Product Launch 

Using the in-store for doing the promotion as well as generating buzz about the new launch. It includes creating brand awareness for new product launches, services, or something new.

Image source: clarketing

Retail can help give closure and a direct experience to customers. Also, it can make the product launch much more effective and generate more demand for it. 

10. Customer Relationship 

Using the retail or physical space for establishing a relationship with the customers. 

It helps in developing the genuine and direct such as staff who encounter the customers, will know more about their behavior and overall what they look for. 

 It can be used for doing in-store promotions and offering a loyalty program. 

Reasons Why Online Businesses Should Switch To Instore Marketing

Small businesses and marketers are using online platforms to sell their products.  In 2020, one-third of small businesses that, includes 29%, decided to use a website for their business.

The rest 29% believe in improving their marketing channel.

Well, almost 86% of people based on the internet to find local businesses near them.

While new digital channels are becoming a crucial part of the business, however, there are four important ‘ P’s of business. It includes Product, Place,  Price, and Promotion. 

In-store marketing solves the important ‘P’ from it and i.e., Place.  Different brands are investing billions of dollars every year to create a store presence for promotions. 

For an online small business, using in-store marketing can be helpful for several reasons, and that includes : 

Most Of the People Made Decision In-Store 

70% of customers make decisions on what to purchase when they are in the store.  No matter if it’s online or offline, the presence of the store helps in deciding whether to buy or not. 

The percentage depends on what to purchase when they are in the store, and offering the right product can change their mind. 

Also, the decision percentage is based on the culture of the products. For example, in China, the number is 88%. But in Germany, the percentage goes to 38%. 

When purchasing shampoo, the rate is 25% whereas in between beer or soft drinks turns 60%. 

Well, 28% of shoppers are well aware of what they are going to purchase, but the brand gets decided when they are in the store. 

Takeaway: As more people switch to shopping in stores, the percentage will change too. Using in-store marketing can help in deciding what the customers will purchase. 

The Choice Paradox 

The choices can be helpful and that’s why people look more to online stores. However it doesn’t matter if you are offering more, it will be good too.

The digital generation is not choosing; they are picking. They can choose anything without thinking too much. 

No matter how many options you are providing,  your customer will choose what they trust. 

The selection can be based on what is popular or recommended to them. 

A Good Shelf Is What You Need 

ECommerce shopping, people, do not go much further than the first result page or category. The only percentage that switches to the second page is 25%. 

Image source: retail4growth

Well, with Amazon, the percentage is 80%., even there are people who don’t switch to second people that easily. However, the position of products can affect customer choice. 

The placement which is on top has a chance of getting more clicks.

 For example, products on amazon’s first page have a chance of getting ten times more clicks. And for the second page, it becomes 2 times.

Takeaway: Having your products placed on one good shelf can help you in attracting more customers. Unlike the online shopping experience, people have better interaction with what you sell. 

Spend On What’s Important 

Companies like Amazon are spending 7 billion dollars on advertisements. Not just them but lots of online business is spending too much money to get more people to their stores.

However, the prime factor where most of the money gets invested is in ads. 

For brands, it becomes highly competitive with giant names. Also, spending on Google and Facebook requires investment. 

Well, instead of spending money on the same keywords, why don’t use in-store marketing to promote your business? 

It not just cuts to the chase but gives you a better return as compared to ads.  Also, here you don’t have many competitors either. 

Takeaway: You do not always need to spend money on online ads. You can simply use in-store marketing and use it for promoting your products. 

It gives a much more hassle-free approach to targeting your audience. 

Best To Getting Impulse Purchase 

According to Hook logic research,  the report says 1 in 3 purchases done online is impulse shopping. 

Image source: vend

Well, impulse buying means when the buyer is browsing around and decides to purchase something just because they liked it. 

Doig that online is not achieved simply. But in-store marketing allows better results,  and making your store better and working on visuals can do more impulse purchases. 

Takeaway: Impulse purchases can be difficult when people are doing online shopping. It’s much more organized, and it might not be effective. 

However, with the store, presenting your products can help in attracting more attention and help in boosting impulse purchases. 

Great Idea To Launch New Products 

In-Store marketing gives perfect opportunities for launching new products. Also, the promotion of a new series of products can help in getting more attention.

With online, you can put it where it’s needed, which means certain spaces are allowed. 

However, with in-store marketing, you can create special places and present your products for promotion. 

Takeaway: In-store promotion allows much better interaction with new products. It gives a closure look at what you are launching, and with the demo, it can be much more direct. 

Also, it helps people to understand better and get in-hand experience to buy more. 

How Small Businesses Can Use In-Store Marketing Effectiveness For Growth?

In-store marketing, you connect the business with your customers once they enter the stores.  

With the help of marketing, you can increase customer numbers and grow your business. 

Also, small businesses can use in-store marketing to tap into the sales cycle and get more customers to purchase. 

You can boost the positive experience that makes your customer encourage them to purchase more. 

Use In-Store Marketing To Up-Sells 

Here you can let your customer wander the store and choose the product they like. Or you can take control and drive their selections. 

You can promote the season’s specials and do the package to make them use new items. 

Upselling can help you in boosting sales.  The key point here is to tap the in-store marketing for doing the upsells and driving more people to purchase. 

For example, you can use digital signage to help your customer to get information regarding what the package will contain. 

Image source: Taggbox

You can educate them on how it will be helpful and make a difference.

This helps in making the best decisions; you can use the menu board to get a specific drive in sales. 

Takeaway:  In-store marketing can be used for upselling your sales. You can offer the product that goes well with the products your customers are buying. 

Also, you can help them in sleeting more of the items that they would like to spend money on. 

Use It For Educating Customers 

With the store, marketing can help in educating the customers. No matter if it’s a marketing aspect or selling a product, educating the customer is the most important part. 

When your customer is not aware of what options they have and the benefits of having it,  they might not go to purchase it either. 

Also, there are lots of customers who might be purchasing one kind of thing regularly.  You can encourage them to try more purchases.

Image source: perchininteractive

In-store marketing helps in driving your customer behavior too.

It also helps when it comes to boosting demand. Also with this, your customer can know more about the options that they might like to try. 

Takeaway: Educating the customer about new products, packages, promotions, etc, can be a hassle. But with in-store marketing, it becomes more engaging and fun for them. 

Using devices and helping your customer to get a better insight into what you provide will boost sales that, eventually, lead to better growth in business. 

Use Instore Marketing For Entertaining 

Instore marketing helps in understanding products and options beyond what your customer is purchasing. 

But it solves the problem like waiting a long time in the store. It gives entertainment too. Customers can keep themselves entertained as well as engaged. 

Waiting for a long time can make anyone frustrated, and the customer feels annoyed when they have to spend their time like this.

With in-store marketing, it offers an outlet for providing distractions and keeping them entertained. This makes the waiting line for keeping it palatable. 

It adds WIFI marketing and Tv channels for such situations. Customers can use the WIFI to browse the phone or watch television for a time pass.

Takeaway: Using WIFI and television also gives you marketing options. You are not just engaging your customer but keeping their time fun and less irritable. 

It makes them less concerned about the situation, and since their attention is not at the time, they are likely to get less frustrated and angry. 

Customers appreciate such gestures, which means they will like to come again. 

Use It For More Loyalty 

Relying on new customers to get better business is not recommended. Not just you spend too much money, but also new customers are fickle about choosing. 

Here you get the new customer for growth, but you need a loyal base to get more sales. 

Loyal customers do spend, on average which goes 67% more than your new customer. So getting your old customer back to purchase is beneficial for business. 

Use digital signage and overhead messaging to boost the loyalty program. You can offer a discount, gifts, and other things, and with this, you can promote the program for signups. 

Takeaway: You can create a deeper sales funnel for your customer. This creates lesser work when you are doing the other channels. 

With this, you can get more customers back to your store and make purchases to boost sales. 

With a loyalty program, you can reward the customers and help the sales to increase business growth. 

Frequently Asked Questions ( FAQs)

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