Your Clients Can Increase Sales by Promoting Convenience

BY Kathy Crosett
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Once upon a time, millennials loved to shop. Now, retailers are trying to increase sales by promoting convenience. That’s because millennials, and all other consumers, are busier with other tasks in daily life. Only 43% of consumers are spending more time shopping than five years ago. Instead, they are taking care of their families (61%) and going to work or school (52%).

In the National Retail Federation’s new report Convenience and the Consumer, nearly 3,000 shoppers told researchers what they want when it comes to convenience. In terms of shopping, consumers rank getting the highest quality item (32%) and the lowest price possible (30%) as their top goals. But the third factor on the list is purchasing through the most convenient option (13%). Consumers are in no mood to surf the web for hours or traipse all over town to get what they want. 83% of shoppers prize convenience more than they did five years ago. In fact, for about half of shoppers, convenience sways their purchases about half of the time.

The Delivery Factor

For many consumers, delivery equals convenience. To optimize their time, 66% of consumers are willing to pay for delivery. About 41% only pay for one service, while 25% pay for more than one. Another 13% say they’re considering signing up for one.

Getting life’s essentials brought to the front door is key. The following percentages of consumers will pay to have specific products delivered and they don’t mind paying extra to save themselves some time:

  • Groceries 66%
  • Apparel 61%
  • Electronics 59%
  • Personal care items 58%
  • Pet supplies 41%

Do your clients have a chance to snag new customers by touting convenience? In the age of Amazon, it’s hard to imagine how a retailer can compete when so many consumers have already signed up for Prime.

Here’s a tip. Consumers don’t always need to have supplies delivered to their doors. They’re willing to try what retailers come up with. At least 78% of shoppers have tried the buy online, pick-​up in store (BOPIS) method. Another 43% have gone for a curbside pickup.

But consumers can be swayed. During the online shopping process, 38% of consumers want to know about convenience options at the very start of their research.

To snag in-​store shoppers, retailers can tout their convenience angle to the 16% of shoppers who look for these features when they begin to research products they’re interested in.

Increase Sales by Promoting Convenience

While most consumers believe that shopping convenience has improved significantly in recent years, they appreciate the extra services that retailers have come up with. Your brick-​and-​mortar clients can continue to score new customers by promoting what shoppers want to see more of:

  • Deals: 55%
  • Simple checkout: 56%
  • Simple returns: 56%
  • Better inventory checking: 55%

If you’re working with online retailers, they should know that 58% of online shoppers want deals. And at least 57% of shoppers want to ability to easily price compare online. Processing returns looms large for many online buyers with 56% saying they want additional convenience in this aspect of the purchase process. Whether it’s sending a call tag or a pick-​up service, retailers who offer that convenience give consumers peace of mind in case their purchased item isn’t quite right.

It’s a whole new shopping world for your clients and their customers. Large competitors have trained consumers to expect a high level of service and maximum convenience at the best prices. Your clients can compete by promoting innovation in convenience. To learn more about customers who have groceries, dry cleaning or medications delivered to their homes, check out the AudienceSCAN profiles available at AdMall from SalesFuel.


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