Why Store Presence Increases Online Sales in a Market Area

Doug Garnett wrote a blog post titled Bricks & Clicks: Why Store Presence Increases Online Sales in a Market Area.

“Here’s a link to an infographic summarizing the research which showed things like a 27% increase in online web traffic from an area when a store opens there and a decrease in web traffic from an area when a store is closed.”

“When a store exists in a market, the mere physical presence of the store has impact that we’d otherwise have to rely on advertising to produce.”

“Market strength occurs for a brand, a store, or an online store when memory structures are built in shopper minds. The goal of these structures is that when the shopper has a need for something that fits what you offer — your products, store or on-line store — YOUR product or store comes to mind.”

“When you have both bricks and clicks, it doesn’t matter hugely which option they take. Some shoppers will opt for bricks today; some will opt for bricks always; some will opt for clicks today; and some will opt for clicks always. (That said, it’s more expensive to sell a product through clicks and you almost always will see lower total shopping basket size when someone buys online. So beware of this caveat.)”

“Having bricks — a physical store — in a market builds memory structures because shoppers are regularly reminded of your store brand.”

Conversely, “when a store is removed from a market, the mental structures begin to weaken.  And that starts the decay of mental connections (Byron Sharp calls these connections mental availability)… “Thus, Steve Dennis observes, shrinking your way to higher profits isn’t ever likely to work – he calls it the store closing delusion.”

For a retailer, “we need remember that the store IS the product. So, when a customer visits a store, is pleased by being there, finds what they seek, interacts well with the associates, and walks out satisfied you have won an incredible battle.”