Ahead of the Curve: Retail Marketing Adapts to E-Commerce

DALLAS, TX / ACCESSWIRE / May 18, 2022 / A customer entering a store in search of a specific product isn't likely to stick around for a long time if they have a difficult time finding that product, or if employees are unable to help them determine which model is best for their specific needs. This is especially true for a store that's disorganized and messy. If their needs aren't met within a certain time frame, customers are likely to search for alternate retailers and possibly even share their negative experiences with others, potentially limiting future visits to the store for others as well.

The customer experience is crucial; retail marketing is an important consideration, since customers shop with their eyes. A well-lit, clean, and appealing atmosphere helps showcase products, making people more likely to purchase them.

But even the most beautifully organized store in the retail industry can't compete with the convenience of e-commerce sales. More than ever, customers are avoiding brick-and-mortar stores and seeking out the convenience and diverse array of products that the web can offer.

During the massive shift to e-commerce sales that's occurred over the past several years- influenced in part by the COVID-19 pandemic- companies have been forced to shift their attention toward the online shopping experience in order to maintain customers and increase revenue. Sales and marketing solutions providers, like Irvine, CA-based BDS Connected Solutions, have had to dramatically shift their services in order to keep up with market changes.

The e-commerce equivalent of a negative in-store experience would be a website that's poorly designed, aesthetically unappealing, and difficult to navigate. It might provide inadequate information about the products being offered, an unhelpful chat bot, or inaccurate, outdated product imagery.

If a customer can't get a clear idea of what they're purchasing, they're very unlikely to make that purchase. Similarly, if they can't find what they're looking for at all, they won't even get the chance to consider the product- and poor customer service is just the nail in the coffin.

When you're looking to make a major electronics purchase, you want all of the information available to you- and if you try to contact the company and are kept on hold or given an automatically-generated response, you'll hang up with unanswered questions and a bad taste in your mouth.

Companies like BDS Connected Solutions have had to focus on human connection as a key factor in customer retention and loyalty. Their solution is to offer a trained brand representative to offer sales assistance to customers and answer questions face-to-face in real time, whether in-person in a retail environment or with a virtual connection through an e-commerce site.

Other companies are finding that human connection is difficult to facilitate through an e-commerce environment; it's hard to directly interact with an online shopper whose attention is divided amongst multiple daily tasks. BDS Connected Solutions created a unique experience allowing customers to personally interact with a sales representative from wherever they are. This technology is called Tap-a-Tech, and it allows a sales representative to demonstrate products, showing exactly how everything works, suggesting accessories, and answering customer questions about the product.

One obvious downfall to this technology is the difference between in-store shopping and web shopping: in a store, customers are out in public, prepared to interact with a salesperson. At home, they might be in a loud room or otherwise not "video-ready". BDS Connected Solutions anticipated this problem by allowing video connection with a representative to be one-way, allowing the brand representative to demonstrate the product without requiring the customer to appear on video themselves.

BDS Connected Solutions' response to the current tech and social climate serves as a good example of staying ahead of the curve: innovating a new customer experience that creates a connection without sacrificing convenience. As the shopping experience continues to evolve due to technological developments and social change, it's imperative for sales and marketing companies to change along with the times or get left behind.

To learn more about BDS Connected Solutions, visit their website or follow along on Twitter and Instagram. If you're interested in working with BDS Connected Solutions, please contact Melissa Burke: melissa.burke@bdssolutions.com or 949-472-6720.

SOURCE: BDS Connected Solutions