Brick and mortar business refers to a physical store, outlet or office. It includes businesses like hair salons, banks, auto repair shops and restaurants.
Many brick and mortar businesses also have an online presence to attract new customers. Creating a clear business plan helps these businesses present their goals to banks or investors for financing.
Customer Interaction
Whether you own a beauty store, clothing boutique, bakery, hair salon or restaurant, your brick and mortar business offers the opportunity to connect with clients in a physical space. This face-to-face interaction fosters a sense of trust and enables you to offer personalized experiences.
People prefer to visit brick and mortar stores to try out products in-person before purchasing them online. This gives them a more complete understanding of the product and allows them to compare features and benefits. In addition, some shoppers associate legitimacy with a company with a physical presence, which can lead to greater brand loyalty.
Additionally, brick and mortar businesses can generate new customers through spontaneous foot traffic, while online companies often rely on direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising to attract leads. This is a major reason why many businesses are opting for an omnichannel strategy with physical locations and an eCommerce website. It helps to reach a wide audience and maximize sales.
Enhanced Customer Experience
While many businesses rely on eCommerce today, brick and mortar still has an important role in business. These kinds of marketplaces offer products or services through face-to-face transactions in buildings or other structures, like grocery stores, banks, gyms, and convenience shops.
Moreover, these types of marketplaces usually have staff and personnel that can assist customers with their purchases. They can recommend products, explain product features and benefits, answer questions, and more.
In addition, they have the added benefit of providing a physical storefront that can attract potential customers and provide an immersive retail experience. This is why a number of direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands have partnered with brick-and-mortar retailers to get their consumer packaged goods in front of a wider audience. One example is beauty brand Peak Design, which integrated Shopify’s handheld POS Go device in its Austin brick-and-mortar store to give employees the freedom to process payments anywhere in the store. This has improved customer service and streamlined the checkout process.
Customer Loyalty
Brick-and-mortar companies can build customer loyalty by providing after-sales service. They can also create customer advocates, such as those who recommend a brand to friends and family. In addition, they can implement growth marketing strategies that target new customers and increase revenue.
Many direct-to-consumer brands (DTC) have been successful at building loyalty online and increasing their revenue. They now need to translate that loyalty into their retail stores. One way to do that is by leveraging data-driven personalization.
Using data from your point-of-sale solution or retail management tool, you can create personalized messages to drive store brand loyalty. These messages are based on customer data and should be sent to customers who have a high likelihood of purchasing from your store again. You can also offer free products or rewards to encourage customer behavior and generate brand awareness. These strategies can increase foot traffic, increase conversions, and build long-term loyalty.
Foot Traffic
Despite ecommerce sales increasing, many consumers prefer to shop in brick and mortar businesses. This is often because they want to experience the products and services in person before making a purchase.
Brick and mortar businesses can create a calming or exciting atmosphere through architecture, interior design, lighting, and sound to encourage shoppers to stay longer. Some retailers are also adding cafes, bars and complimentary workshops to help build customer loyalty.
Foot traffic analytics is an important part of retail analysis and can offer valuable insights into human mobility patterns. These analytics, paired with real estate data and other information sources, can offer insight into the viability of future or existing brick and mortar locations.
In addition to enhancing the in-store shopping experience, brick and mortar stores can provide innovative, branded experiences that can’t be replicated online. These experiences may include a popup store or a live event, such as a cooking class. One example of this is Earl of East’s click and mortar model during the pandemic, where customers used a mobile app to order food and drinks and went to the store to pick them up. web