Digital Merchandising: What’s Your Presence for Presents?
Retail holiday prep is in full swing. The holiday season represents the busiest season on the retail calendar. You’ve probably already prepared your bricks and mortar location, developed and implemented a strong merchandising plan to entice customers, and created a plan for restocking and inventory management. But have you thought about your online presence? What’s your strategy for digital merchandising?
Digital merchandising is an important part of any retail business, whether you operate solely as a bricks and mortar store, as an online retailer, or both.
Just as you spend time ensuring everything is in line in-store, you need to pay just as much attention to your online presence. Sharing about sales, promotions, and events going on during the holiday season is a great way to get people online and shopping. Continuously reaching out to customers on your social platforms is often your lowest hanging fruit as far as advertising, and you want to be sure that everything is in tune with your brand messaging.
When it comes to customer service, digital also plays an important role. Not only are your customers online researching various products and reading reviews, they’re also leaving them. When the reviews are positive, you have the ability to influence the buying behaviour of others in a positive way. When they’re negative, the same is true, only in a negative way. One of the most important things you can do when it comes to digital merchandising is engage in social listening. When people are talking about you online you need to be a part of the conversation. If someone had a negative customer experience, you need to reach out to them to demonstrate a level of care and mitigate the risks of the review. Saying nothing is akin to ignoring them completely, and that’s never a good strategy.
If your brand is listed with a variety of retailers, digital merchandising means even more. It involves the process of ensuring your products are listed correctly online, are fully searchable, and that online stocks reflect actual inventory. You want to make it as easy as possible for your customers to find your products, whether they’re in-store or online.
Digital marketing should follow much the same pattern as your in-store marketing. It needs to be influenced by consumer insight and trends within your specific category. Cater your messaging to suit the needs and wants of your customers, creating a powerful emotional connection that breeds brand loyalty.
So, what’s your presence for presents? If you’re feeling a bit behind, don’t fret, there is still time to get things in place for holiday shopping. Get in touch with Marketsupport today to learn more: 1-877-421-5081.
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