Have you ever wondered how well the big brands in online stores perform? Or how that performance measures up to in-store sales? Now you don’t have to wonder anymore. Redbrain has compiled stats for the top 11 retailers in the United States. The results may surprise you. Even though most of these stores have had online stores for some years now, their online sales always seem to lag. In most cases, there is quite a gap between the two figures. It would seem that online shopping, though a big industry, is still not quite a match for a brick and mortar store. It makes sense, especially if we consider a shopper’s psychology. After all, there’s a huge difference between shopping in store and shopping online. What are the major differences? Online we have Instant Chat, which comes into play if you want to ask questions. That’s very different from having a sales assistant right in front of you, though. It’s in our nature to want to please others, so we might be more inclined to say yes to someone standing in front of us. Then there’s the assistance that you get from the salesperson. If they’re halfway decent at their jobs, they’ll be able to overcome your buying objections. They will know what stock they have and might even be able to negotiate discounts or other incentives to seal the deal. This is something that we cannot quite match when it comes to online shopping just yet. Online, there are no strategically placed displays to tempt you into making an impulse purchase. E-commerce stores use clever tricks like showing you related items to encourage you to buy more, but it’s not quite the same as an eye-catching window display. For now, at least, it’ll take a lot to beat in-store shopping. While online shopping is more convenient, you’re more likely to make impulse purchases at the mall on a lazy Saturday afternoon. So for now, at least, online shopping takes second place.
URL: https://www.redbrain.com/blog/in-store-vs-online/
