Forget Trends – Go Retro: 4 Old-School Tips from Retail to Make Your eCommerce Shop Pop

Jake Rheude

eCommerce is the next evolution of retail, the bleeding edge of innovation. eCommerce brings with it a whole new set of rules about customer service and customer interaction, so you might be excused for thinking that traditional retail doesn’t have any tricks up its sleeves that could benefit your eCommerce website.
At the end of the day, however, retail is retail. Brick-and-mortar retailers have studied how to attract customers in competitive marketplaces for decades. Your eCommerce shop can benefit by picking up on some old-school retail tips. Here are four ideas that still resonate in the eCommerce age.

1. Pick Up the Phone

The owner of a small shop or a knowledgeable and friendly employee can be a big part of the glue that keeps customers coming back to their favorite brick-and-mortar shop. Being able to ask questions and get information from someone who’s intimately familiar with the products gives customers confidence in their purchases.
Pick Up The Phone
 
Just because your customers find you over the internet doesn’t mean you have to abandon this form of connection. If you rely on a niche customer base for your high-end products, you can follow the example of Strolleria, which sells strollers and car seats. The company has a brick-and-mortar store as well as a website. They realized that their online customers probably have many of the same questions as the overwhelmed new parents who walk into their shop.
So owner Amy Venske started to call every shopper who abandons a shopping cart on the Strolleria website. She provides an expert voice to guide her customers in making large and important purchases for their new babies. By doing that, she has cut her shopping cart abandonment rate substantially. She has also won loyal customers and referrals.

2. Put Some Fun into Your Shop

For many American consumers, retail is a form of entertainment. Brick-and-mortar stores know this, and they capitalize on it by playing music and designing window displays to create an ambiance that appeals to their clientele.
eCommerce shopping can be just as fun and entertaining as traditional retail. The best eCommerce websites take advantage of this. Take Bellroy, an eCommerce site that sells wallets and bags. The product is simple, and Bellroy has legions of competitors.
Bellroy puts the “fun” in function with short animations that show off the features of each product while also delighting the viewer. It’s a great way to showcase the brand voice while delivering a sales pitch at the same time.
Another great example is the Danish chocolatier Simply Chocolate. Scroll through their offerings, and the candy bars unwrap. A piece breaks off, showing you the filling, accompanied by an invitation to “BITE INTO IT.” You can almost taste the chocolate.
Santa Was Here
 
https://gph.is/2CeeR2h
Even if you don’t have the budget to animate your products, it makes sense to invest what you can in clever site design. No successful retail store would drape a bunch of clothing haphazardly in the window without mannequins or a backdrop. Your website needs window dressing too.

3. Put Pen to Paper

Skilled retail workers and shopkeepers end each customer transaction the same way: by saying thank you. It’s simple, it’s friendly, and it’s so common that you probably wouldn’t notice it unless you weren’t thanked.
An email after checkout that includes an order confirmation and thank you is great, but some eCommerce companies have taken a more personal approach. Canadian clothier Frank and Oak includes a handwritten card with every order. Hex, which sells laptop sleeves and bags, reportedly wrote 13,000 personal thank you notes within its first four years after launch.
Just for You
 
Impressed customers posted the notes on social media, generating additional buzz for the startup.
A handwritten note can be short and simple — like the person at the register saying thank you after your purchase. I recently placed an order with Crown and Buckle and got a handwritten thank you on the printed invoice. It’s these little touches that breed loyal customers.

4. Everything Old Is New Again

One area where brick-and-mortar stores have an advantage over eCommerce sites is in one-of-a-kind merchandise. This is particularly true for secondhand items, which could have imperfections. Shoppers prefer to touch and feel before they buy.
Most online vintage shops solve this problem by selling only high-end items in excellent condition. Many of them specialize in a particular era or style to appeal to a niche audience. In With the Old, which resells vintage collegiate clothing, has found an approach that allows it to offer lower-priced apparel in one particular niche: college students and alumni.
Instagram
 
The eCommerce startup sells each piece through an auction on its Instagram page, which allows users to not only put a dollar value on their purchase but also to comment on their bids. Feelings and memories are an important part of the transaction.
In With the Old leverages school loyalty to engage customers. The targeted approach allows the eCommerce business to sell vintage items at a price point that even college students can afford.
Whether your products are new or vintage, you can use the emotional appeal of your niche market to engage and involve customers. You may not be able to hand over an item for your customer to examine, but you can use social media to start meaningful customer conversations and generate the feelings that lead shoppers to become buyers.
Bio
Jake Rheude is the Director of Business Development for Red Stag Fulfillment, an eCommerce fulfillment warehouse that was born out of eCommerce. He has years of experience in eCommerce and business development. In his free time, Jake enjoys reading about business and sharing his own experience with others.
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