{"id":1243508,"date":"2013-09-12T07:32:53","date_gmt":"2013-09-12T14:32:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.retailpro.com\/News\/blog\/index.php\/2013\/09\/12\/customers-may-come-to-expect-seamless-integration-from-all-retail-channels\/"},"modified":"2013-09-21T18:19:30","modified_gmt":"2013-09-22T01:19:30","slug":"customers-may-come-to-expect-seamless-integration-from-all-retail-channels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.retailpro.com\/News\/blog\/index.php\/2013\/09\/12\/customers-may-come-to-expect-seamless-integration-from-all-retail-channels\/","title":{"rendered":"Customers may come to expect seamless integration from all retail channels"},"content":{"rendered":"

The point of sale<\/a> no longer occurs at the register alone, and as time progresses, retailers may need to integrate all levels of their operation from the brick-and-mortar store to their e-commerce site. Consumers are coming to expect that merchants will offer a similar level of service regardless of whether they are buying an item online or in-person.<\/p>\n

However, many businesses may still possess departmental silos that reduce their ability to integrate data and improve service through every part the organization. Eliminating these silos can create a seamless shopping experience that provides the same level of customer satisfaction regardless of how an item is purchased. Retail management software<\/a> can help merchants attain consistent service across all aspects of the business.<\/p>\n

Online purchase, in-store pickup<\/strong>
\nOne trend that some retailers have recently been instituting is the in-store pickup of items purchased online. Internet Retailer noted that Target will be providing this service<\/a> throughout its nearly 1,800 stores as well as its e-commerce site. While it will begin in Minneapolis, the company plans on implementing the policy throughout its chain locations around the holidays. <\/p>\n

Target follows in this trend with other major retailers such as Staples, Wal-Mart and Gap, all of which provide their customers an interconnected e-commerce and brick-and-mortar shopping experience. <\/p>\n

This is but Target's latest effort to link its sales among multiple channels, with Internet Retailer reporting that it also began testing Cartwell, its Facebook-based discount service.<\/p>\n

Simply because a retailer's relationship begins online does not mean it will remain there, and customers may come to expect greater integration among all branches of a merchant's business. Brands that move toward this sales structure may experience an increase in customer loyalty as well as a greater number of sales stemming from shoppers who know that a chain will meet them on their own terms, and at nearly any time. <\/p>\n

The impulse buy<\/strong>
\nIntegrated Solutions for Retailers levied one criticism against Target's move, noting that the brand partially relies on impulse buys<\/a>. Regardless of whether this is true, merchants should remember that this aspect of shopping will remain a critical part of why brick-and-mortar stores are still an important aspect of the shopping experience. While e-commerce has become more integral than ever, it will never be able to sate a customer's need for something right now. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The point of sale no longer occurs at the register alone, and as time progresses, retailers may need to integrate all levels of their operation from the brick-and-mortar store to their e-commerce site. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1243509,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1243508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-retail-merchandising-and-marketing"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.retailpro.com\/News\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1243508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.retailpro.com\/News\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.retailpro.com\/News\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.retailpro.com\/News\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.retailpro.com\/News\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1243508"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.retailpro.com\/News\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1243508\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.retailpro.com\/News\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1243509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.retailpro.com\/News\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1243508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.retailpro.com\/News\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1243508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.retailpro.com\/News\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1243508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}