3 Reasons In-store Interactive Digital Marketing Matters

At the onset of digital transformation in the grocery industry, so much of the focus was on technology that shoppers would access outside the store. E-Commerce, digital flyers, and social media, to name a few, all revolutionized the way a shopper received communication from their favorite store and prepared for a shopping trip. However, once a shopper walked through the front door of the store, there was a gap in that digital interaction, and the shopping experience was largely unchanged.

Today, those days are over. In-store interactive digital marketing is the next frontier for retailers looking to engage shoppers with user-friendly technologies. Think digital kiosks, smart carts, and more.

But why should you focus your digital efforts on technology that lives inside the four walls of your store when you’ve already attracted a shopper? There are a few reasons:

1. Messaging Continuity

If you’re working with your brands, suppliers, and internal team on crafting a campaign to share with your shoppers, they will likely see that message on a number of your platforms outside the store (web, mobile, app, email, etc). But inside the store is where the shopper actually makes their purchase decisions and is therefore the most critical time to have your messaging top-of-mind. An in-store digital engagement connects the dots from the pre-trip messaging to the transaction; we are trying to sell groceries after all!

2. Accommodate Your Shoppers

Often I'm asked, “Matt, I get that shoppers need to engage digitally in the store, but can’t they do that on their phones?”

The simple answer to that question is, “Yes, but...”

See, a mobile-savvy shopper absolutely can continue to engage with you digitally inside the store with their personal device through your website, app, etc. But every shopper is different, and just like you might carry multiple brands of the same item (like soda or potato chips), you give your shopper the best experience when they have options on how to engage with you.

Think about the experience at the airport: some travelers are perfectly happy acquiring and displaying their boarding passes on their phones, while others prefer to use a self-serve kiosk to produce a physical boarding pass, and still others need one-on-one assistance at a customer service counter. The airline wants everyone to be able to fly regardless of their technological preferences, and we can do the same in the store.

An interactive, easy-to-use kiosk can facilitate loyalty program enrollments, digital coupon clips, circular page views, and additional engagements with your messaging. And, if that’s not enough motivation, there is also a trend toward legislation that may require retailers to provide increased digital coupon access to shoppers in-store.

3. It's Trackable and It Works

Finally, in-store interactive technology allows you to track your shopper engagement in ways that signs, TVs, flyers, etc. never could. You will know how many shoppers are utilizing your technology and what aspects or specific promotions they find most intriguing. By connecting those shoppers to their purchases, these interactions drive sales and loyalty. In a recent study at a group of independent retailers, we found that shoppers who clipped coupons on the kiosk redeemed those coupons at a rate of over 20% and their basket sizes were over 23.5% larger.

If you’ve been thinking about adding in-store interactive technology to your store, why not do it with a partner like SHOPtoCOOK? With decades of industry experience focused on helping independents inspire and engage their shoppers, we provide retail media, website design/hosting, email marketing, and of course in-store kiosk services that are affordable and designed for retailers just like you.

Get in touch! We'd love to chat and answer your questions. Here's where to find us:

Email: inquire@shoptocook.com
Web: Click here to contact us.
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