Sophisticated customer-facing and behind-the-scenes strategies that will get shoppers visiting stores again this peak season. 

UK retail’s golden quarter in 2020 saw nearly half the footfall versus the same period in 2019, with BRC and ShopperTrak reporting an annual decline of 48.4%. 

It’s no surprise considering the national lockdowns and temporary shop closures at that time. 

With no sign of such restrictions as we transition into peak season 2021, surely there is a desire among consumers to get out and about into malls, retail parks and the high streets – after missing much of the magic of the festive period 12 months ago? 

However, recent footfall data suggests a continued sluggishness among consumers to hit the shops, so it’s incumbent upon retailers to play their part in drawing people out to visit them. 

There are several ways this can be done, and various retailers are blazing a trail for others to follow.

That’s entertainment

The idea of the store as an experience and the shop visit as entertainment is not new, but with even more people going online in the pandemic, the shop needs to stand out more than ever as something greater than just a transactional destination. 

During events like Black Friday and throughout the festive season this becomes increasingly important. Family events, product demonstrations, and special guest meet-and-greets can all play a part in attracting crowds, as can new tech-enabled experiences. 

From the launch of eSports events in store to its QR code-enabled competitions when opening the doors to new flagship destinations, JD Sports is a retailer with plenty of ideas about creating in-store theatre and excitement. Elsewhere, when upmarket fashion retailer Flannels expanded from its northern heartlands to London in 2019 it put on a roster of monthly DJ sets in Oxford Street – generating a refreshing buzz around bricks and mortar. 

Zara, meanwhile, is looking to technology to add pizzazz to its physical shopping offering, with robot arms to retrieve online customer orders, an app that allows shoppers to book changing room space in advance and – in some stores – self-service checkouts. 

Forward-thinking retailers are integrating this type of thinking into their traditional sales techniques.  

Selfridges deserves a mention too – if it can reposition some of its springtime activities, such as children’s film screenings and musical performances, for a festive audience, it’ll create some 2021 Christmas magic for in-store shoppers in the coming months.

Ain’t what you do (it’s the way that you do it) 

Many retailers are looking to use customer-facing strategies to impress shoppers, but there’s also lots going on behind the scenes in stores to give consumers the experiences they want.  

The coronavirus crisis fast-tracked several businesses’ plans to use their physical estate as a major component of their eCommerce operations. B&Q and Marks & Spencer have both ramped up their click & collect offering in the last 12 months as demand has dictated, while Currys, The White Company and Superdrug are among the retailers to have leveraged shop staff to serve online customers via video connections. 

In some cases – at grocery chains like Sainsbury’s and Waitrose, for example – stores are effectively doubling up as mini-warehouses to better serve local online shoppers. The store is now clearly more than just a store.

Stand and deliver 

Retailers are developing convenient in-store propositions for the benefit of their consumers and internal operations. Much of it is especially crucial at a time when HGV drivers and warehouse space are at a premium and store fulfilment is often much cheaper than getting goods to a customer’s front door. 

In this environment, I encourage retailers to take things further. 

We all work in retail, but we’re all consumers too. Click & collect is a great option for busy shoppers, but how often have you spent longer than you wanted to in a shop whilst multiple members of staff attempt to track down your parcel? 

From an industry point of view, wouldn’t you want your store and staff to focus on all the aforementioned store creativity this peak period, as well as Santa’s Grotto-style events, gifting pop-ups, and advising consumers on how to enjoy a sustainable yuletide?

Collection services, on the other hand, can be ringfenced to a dedicated, mobile-operated smart locker service, keeping the functional and the experiential elements of retailing apart, in a neat and tidy way. Such a set-up adds to the attraction of in-store shopping – our partner, Lowe’s in North America, vouches for it. 

And lockers don’t damage dwell time. If a retailer has done a great job in creating a service-led, awe-inspiring shopping environment, people picking up parcels will go on to enter the store looking for more from that brand. 

Storing and fulfilling online purchases in smart lockers outside a retail store also means consumers can quickly pick up orders if they are in a rush (in just seven seconds) 24/7. But for the businesses themselves, this storage is more organised than the status quo and represents a clever use of their physical estates.  

Unlike last year, there’s no reason to settle for a trickle of store visitors this festive season. Footfall will surely increase for creative retailers that use, design and kit out shops in the ways we’ve underlined – but the clock is ticking to get all the right elements in place.