Improving “Bricks & Clicks”Stephanie Masone, Lucas Hernandez, Caterina Anello, Thomas Navarra, Michael Vida, and Trevor Herring

SL

CT

MT

Marketing Group

Statistics of “Bricks and Clicks”

Online shopping has grown exponentially over the past decade around the world

Retailers that have both a physical store and online presence have reported an average of 23% growth

According to a survey of U.S. online customers: 82% are satisfied with buying experiences that

began and ended with the online store Satisfaction dropped to 61% when they researched

online and then bought their product in a store

HOW CAN WE CHANGE THIS?

Inside the Customers Mind5 Essential Facts Customers Look for On Internet Stores:

Organization Customers like when a website is set up in an efficient way;

this helps the customers to get to the product as easy and as fast as possible

Online Customer Service Customers like to feel that if they have questions, they can

be answered quickly Simplicity

If there are too many options, customers do not like to feel bombarded

Layout and Design For example, JCrew’s layout is always very seasonal and

inviting; most customers appreciate the layout and design Accessibility

34% tablet users and 21% smartphone users have made at least one purchase on their on store App (comScore)

Customers like the fact that they can make purchases outside of the store and outside of their homes

Inside the Customers Mind 5 Essential Facts Customers Look for in Stores:

Organization Customers like to walk into the store that is presented in a

neat and organized fashion where each section is categorized perfectly

Customer Service Customers like to be greeted in a friendly and pleasant

manner as well as engage with employees when in need Layout and Design

Customers like to walk into a store where the window is inviting or the colors are displayed in an appealing fashion

For example, JCrew’s layout is always very seasonal and inviting; most customers appreciate the layout and design

Music Customers want to walk into a store and feel a good vibe

throughout their whole shopping experience; music can effect the behavior of a shopper

Lighting Lighting sets the scene and captures the mood of the

store so customers have a specific shopping experience

Pattern Is FormedNotice how 3 out of the 5 essential bullet points are

the same It is important to integrate the physical store location

and online presence Customers look for the same thing when shopping

online and in the store so their experiences can be the same and cause happiness to generate profit

How can we make customers happy?

Consumer Product Areas:ApparelFurnitureElectronics

We chose to focus on these industries because we feel our recommendations can benefit this trio in many sufficient ways

Consumers make decisions about purchasing items from these three product areas on a daily basis

People are constantly moving, buying clothes, or advancing technologically

Recommendation #1 “Item of the Week” Typical – Many stores such as: JC Penney, Old Navy,

etc. present this to their customers using one item

However, our firm would recommend that you incorporate an “Item of the Week” Sale with a Points Rewards System

Instead of using one item to advertise to your customer – we recommend using 3-5 items as your sale promotion

Logistics of Items of the Week: Our firm suggests the best way to improve the sale

of certain items is to incorporate a Points System with your Items of the Week Promotions

If a customer were to purchase one or more of the items advertised as an “Item of the Week,” either in the store or online, they would gain a specified amount of points

When that customer reaches a certain amount of points, they will receive an e-mail containing the link to the coupon they have earned based on how many points they have gathered

The coupon can be printed and used in the store or used with an online purchase through a coupon code

There’s a Catch!

The catch – The coupon is valid in the store for a limited amount of time. However, it’s online use does not expire

This way, we can ensure an increase in your store’s website traffic if a customer’s in store coupon inspires

Also, coupons cannot be combined in store or online. One coupon per purchase

Applying Our Idea:

For example, if we were to apply this idea to J.Crew’s customer pool, we would advise that each promotion item was chosen from a different category, such as: Women’s, Men’s, Shoes (General), Children’s, etc.

This will make sure that every type of customer will be eligible to gain points, by selecting an item that suits their needs

Getting Started: Employees will be asked to take the customer’s information upon checkout. By doing this, a customer is automatically imputed into J.Crew’s system, linking the customer’s in-store information with their online account.

A customer can keep track of their points easily – by logging into their online account, now that they are linked

This is where the customer will create their online account which is linked up to the in store system

Once the customer fills out all the designated areas and hits submit, a new screen will pop up and explain the “Item of the Week” with the Rewards/Points System and the coupons they will receive

This will assure that each customer has an in-store record and an online record. This starts the incorporation of your online presence and physical store location

Step 1: Step 2:

StephanieMasonesm03075n@pace.edusm03075n@pace.edu

Submit123456123456numbers

Thank you for signing up Stephanie!

How our system works:

•Item of the week•Rewards/Points System•Coupons you receive

Your online account is now linked to your in store account. Start

earning your points!

Recommendation #2 Our firm recommends that your store should offer a

special deal for a customer that orders something online and then comes to pick it up in the store

The special deal we feel would work best is that the customer can receive a discount on an item that relates to their online purchase Example: if the customer is ordering from Best Buy’s

online website, and they order a television, when they come to pick it up in the store, they can receive a discount on an item related to the television such as a television stand, an extra remote, etc.

This will give people the incentive to come into the store to pick up their online purchase; they also receive free shipping this way It also generates positivity and profits towards

customers shopping in the store and online

Logistics of Online Purchase/In-store Pick up

The logic behind this idea is that when the customer places his/her order on the website, an option will be present asking if they want to pick it up in the store closest to them

If they select yes, another option will be generated for a specific time and date that the customer an go into the store and pick it up

Once the customer completes this step, a confirmation page will appear For the customers with smart phones, they will receive

an email which they can present to the cashier at the actual store; this email will have a barcode that the cashier can scan to bring up the item on the stores computer so the cashier can pull the item from inventory

For the customers without smart phones, there will be an option to print out the confirmation page to bring into the store

Recommendation #3Our firm’s third recommendation deals with social

media paired up with in the store shopping and online shopping

We suggest that a company interacts with the customers personal social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

Getting Started with In Store Shopping: when a customer shops in the store and finishes up at the cash register, when they receive the bag with their purchase in it, they will also find a colorful and attention grabbing piece of paper. This paper tells the customer to take a picture of their purchase and upload it to their social media account hashtagging a specific saying The hash tag qualifies the customer to receive a special

coupon with a discount on their next purchase!

Getting Started with Online Shopping: the same concept works for the online store as well as in store However, the customer will receive the paper in the

package that is shipped to their house Same exact paper, the customer is just getting it

delivered to their house along with their online purchase

Thank you for shopping at JCrew!#JCrewRules on Instagram of your purchase to be entered into the

sweepstakes to receive a discount on your next purchase!

The winner will be notified if they won by a direct message on Instagram on 01/25/2015

One winner per contest

Example:

Recommendation #4This suggestion by our firm has to do with a stores

social media accounts and their followersTypical- a store will post a picture on either Facebook,

Twitter, or Instagram with a coupon code for the followers (customers) to enter upon checkout on the store’s website This coupon code usually only works for the online store

We believe that stores should get more personal with their followers by sending them direct messages with coupon codes after fulfilling certain sharing requirements We like to call this method “Direct Message Sale”

The certain sharing requirements consist of the follower reposting the company’s post that will advertise a sale opportunity

Then, the follower will have to tag five of their friends in the post and hashtag the company name

As a reward, the company will then direct message the followers that did so with a code to the sale that is happening

The direct message will look something like this:

• By the follower tagging their five friends, the company gains recognition

• The ultimate goal is to start a phenomenon with our social media site

Recommendation #5Stephanie is a strong believer in, “if the shoe fits,

wear it, and also buy it in every color!” This could go along with any type of clothing also!

Have you ever found that perfect pair of jeans and just had to have it in every color?

Our firm’s next recommendation for apparel stores is for the system to keep records of each purchase that a customer buys

Getting Started: at the cash register, the cashier will ask the customer their name and contact information such as address, telephone number, and email This sets up their information in the system and links up

to their purchases from now on

The email is essential because it will be linked to an internal server which sends customers emails on future sales related to their previous purchases

Reasoning Behind It All…Thomas received this email because he previously

expressed interest in the products featured in the email Thomas’ most recent purchase from SomethingGreek.com

was a labeled fraternity hoodie Therefore, he is receiving this email because the company

has a record of this previous purchase and would like to notify him about a discount he can receive on his next purchase of a similar product

We believe that customers will like this because it takes out the middle man It makes this process only between the customer and the

company It is more enjoyable and personal In the busy world, customers do not have the time to look

for sales Most of the times, customers miss sales; this will ensure

that this does not happen

Recommendation #6SLCTMT Marketing Group came up with the idea of

scratch off giveaways These scratch offs will be stapled to the customer’s

receipts by the cashier upon checkout

Once scratched, the coupon will reveal a code that the customer must enter on the store’s website in order to see what they have won The prizes can consist of discounts, gift cards, free item,

etc.

The customer will have to print out the page that shows the prize and come back into the store in order to obtain it This will keep the customers motivated and give them

the incentive to check out the website Also, customers love to receive free presents – brownie

points for us!

For example, the best kind of industry to incorporate this ideais the furniture industry. A furniture store is not the type of storethat consumers have to go to often. In order to encouragethe customers to come to the store and shop as often as possible, the company needs an idea that will pull thecustomers in

Michael with the scratch off Michael finding out his prize!

Keeping Customers Happy!Now we have all these customers thanks to the

above recommendations, we need to keep them! Statistics show that it takes seven times more effort to

get a new customer than to keep an old one (7:1 ratio) It is much more effort to obtain loyalty

Our firm believes that keeping a customer loyal means keeping constant contact as well as rewards with them A company has to show the customer that they truly

care about the business that is being brought to them

Building Customer LoyaltyWe suggest that a company should keep lists about

their customers These lists will include personal things such as a

birthday A week before the customer’s birthday the company’s

internal system should automatically send an email to the customer that looks something like this:

The customer will then have toprint out this coupon and bring it in the store to redeem it

*offer will expire at the end of their birthday month

ConclusionSLCTMT Marketing Group has many amazing and

well thought out ideasWe believe that there are many elements that go

into keeping a customer happy and gaining their loyalty

Gaining a new customer can be a challenge, but we are confident that our suggestions can be used to benefit your company

THANK YOU!