Consumers can order a product online and pick it up in a store. They can order an item online at a kiosk located in a store. Today, retailers are looking for ways to integrate the virtual and brick and mortar shopping worlds to better serve consumers' needs and drive sales in the process.
"You might start hearing the word 'seamlessness' more often," Venky Shankar, a marketing professor at Texas A&M University, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "Customers are using more multiple channels for searching, for browsing, for buying. You need to have an integrated experience for customers. Kiosks at stores are a step in that direction."
Online sales continue to grow at double-digit rates and stores are looking to kiosks to help build add-on sales, especially now that the crucial Christmas holiday shopping season is nearing. Recently, the National Retail Federation (NRF) predicted sales for the holiday will grow four percent, although it won't be easy.
"Retailers are in for a somewhat challenging holiday season as consumers are faced with numerous economic obstacles," Rosalind Wells, chief economist for the NRF, said in a press release. "With the weak housing market and current credit crunch, consumers will be forced to be more prudent with their holiday spending."
A number of retailers are testing in-store kiosks to address out-of-stock situations, offer merchandise not carried in stores and even help shoppers get their shopping lists in order.
"It's kind of something you have to do," Sucharita Mulpuru, a senior analyst for Forrester Research, told the Star-Telegram. "Consumers are cross-channel shoppers. No one stays within one channel. If you as a retailer don't make that a seamless experience, you risk losing that customer."
Barnes & Noble is among those retailers that are taking steps to blend the best of online and in-store in the other's environment. Currently, the chain has kiosks in approximately one-fourth of its stores, with plans to have them in all locations. Online, the company is offering webcasts to allow customers to hear author readings as they might in stores.
Discussion Question: Will the "seamlessness" discussed in the Star-Telegram piece become a requirement for retailers in the future? What are the keys for retailers looking to offer such a seamless experience and do it effectively from the shopper's point of view?