As part of an integrated ecommerce marketing strategy, personalised discount offers are a highly effective way to increase in-store purchases. Bridging the gap between online and offline shopping helps you reach more customers, driving sales and providing customers with a seamless shopping experience.

Grapevine helped a leading FMCG retailer drive in-store purchases, through the delivery of 8x1.8 million personalised discount offers.

This campaign was delivered through the retailer's loyalty rewards programme.

Grapevine helped the store develop and implement a hyper-personalised email campaign that offered up to 14.5 million product variations. The result of this campaign included far higher engagement rates compared to other email campaigns, as well as higher discount redemption rates for those who received the email compared to those who were not included in the campaign.

While there is no doubt that personalised offers play a vital role in both online and in-store purchases, there are many retailers who have not yet included this strategy within their broader ecommerce marketing plan. Some have just started pilot campaigns while others have avoided personalised offers.

An integrated automation platform used alongside highly customised ecommerce marketing campaigns that are built specifically to incentivise in-store shopping is the best way to meet these challenges head-on for better results.

At Grapevine, we have consistently seen how much impact automation has within the online and offline retail environments, with many benefits offered through personalised ecommerce marketing campaigns.

What makes personalised in-store discounts a worthwhile strategy, however, and what type of results do they offer in terms of growth and conversion? Let's take a look.

Ecommerce Marketing to Increase In-Store Purchases

Ecommerce marketing is a powerful tool when it comes to driving both online and offline sales. Loyalty-based strategies are particularly beneficial to reach both new and existing customers. From increased engagement to larger average order size, personalised discounts offer numerous benefits for in-store sales. Some of the most important advantages include the following:

1. Increase engagement.

How many customers walk through your store on any given month? How many of those are actively engaged with your store, online or offline? Customers who are not engaged are very likely to become ex-customers. In today's highly competitive retail environment, customers have far more choice than ever. If customers are not actively engaged, they will forget about you and look for other places to do their shopping.

Over and beyond reminding customers that you are there, you also need to be able to connect with them and make them want to visit your store. Personalised offers based on previous purchases or related products is the best way to attract new and once-off shoppers to your store, with an incentive to make a purchase. Triggered campaigns designed to reach customers in a way that generates interest and attention will be highly effective at increasing engagement.

2. Improve customer retention.

The cost of bringing in customers is far higher than the cost of keeping existing customers. Along with new and one-time shoppers, you can also reach current customers with in-store offers. Reaching existing customers is easier because you already have a purchase history. With the help of customer data, you can determine the last purchase made or the duration between purchases. You can also create personalised offers according to customer preferences. For example, if a customer has frequently purchased beauty products at your natural healthcare store, there would be little point in offering discounts on men's grooming products but you would have far better results offering reduced prices on newly launched vegan lip gloss or essential oil perfume.

3. Meet customer expectations.

Most customers today expect a high level of service when shopping online or offline. Many expect in-store retailers to have knowledge of their online shopping history. Finding ways to meet these expectations will help to increase loyalty and reputation. Once again, this comes down to cohesion between online and offline environments. When customers have a seamless experience, whether shopping online or offline, they are far more likely to be happy. When they shop online with no trouble, only to not have the same experience offline, satisfaction quickly goes out the window. Essentially, you want to make it easier for customers to shop with minimal barriers to purchase.

4. Increase order size.

Personalised offers can be very effective to increase average order sizes. In many cases, customers may be promoted to purchase items that they had not considered before receiving the offer.

Customers are also more likely to buy higher-priced items at a discounted price if they feel that they are getting an exclusive deal. Generic or broad discount offers are not as efficient in this regard as they may not apply to specific items that customers have either already viewed or items that are within similar categories as items previously purchased. Personalised offers help customers save on items they are already more likely to purchase, on the other hand.With the help of a powerful digital communications solution that enables you to create and run highly personalised campaigns, you will be able to reach more customers and see all of the benefits listed above.

Grapevine Interactive provides an integrated approach to ecommerce marketing that is designed to take your in-store offers to the next level. Contact us today to learn more about our digital communications solutions.