Modern consumers crave inter-connectivity in every facet of their lives; with today’s increasingly strong focus on mobile technology and social media, and the high street currently going through a ‘tear down’ phase, it’s time for retailers to hop on board and start innovating if they want to stay ahead of the competition and remain a high street force. In other words, retailers need to provide a social, interactive shopping experience that will excite consumers and keep them coming back for more.

Enhancing the retail experience
A recent online article by Forbes confirms this, noting that consumers of the future will expect shops with more dynamism and interactivity on all fronts. One way of effectively tapping into the technology-centric nature of society to create a shopping environment that is stimulating and engaging is to give customers a chance to share their shopping experience—having live interactive screens like our fully branded and moderated live Twitter Wall featuring tweets throughout the store is a brilliant way of doing this.

First, however, shops must have a fresh, contemporary design and ambience that will make shopping feel less like a chore and more like a day out on the town. According to Forbes, shops will need “sexy, dynamic and club-like atmospheres [that] will captivate and drive traffic”; once this has been achieved, customers will want to tweet and share Instagram posts on their latest purchase or the products they wish they could purchase, just as they would tweet or share photos of a night out.

Retailers need to morph from a place to spend money, to a place to spend time.
They need to create an interactive event, shop/ drop with emphasis on an online purchase, create special invited events, promotional ‘try our new product’ days.
And for the massive stores, a time to reduce floor space and focus on giving rather than simply taking.
No-one really wants to spend all day lugging boxes and bags around – allow us to try and buy stuff in-store, purchase then get it delivered.

Golden opportunity for food retailers
For gourmet or niche food shops in particular, the use of live feeds appearing on screens throughout shops could open retailers up to endless possibilities for social interaction. With the popularity of food-related blogs, Internet users’ love of ‘gastroporn’, and the prevalence of ‘foodies’ now widespread on the Internet and across social networks, there is no limit to the ways of making food shopping social.

Reaching out beyond the High Street
Perhaps the most significant aspect of making retail social is the instantaneous extended reach it gives retailers; when a customer tweets or Facebooks about their positive shopping experience, that post won’t just be seen on moderated screens in-store, but it will also be seen by all the posters followers, raising awareness of your brand and your products. Social shopping also presents a prime opportunity for creative, highly effective interactive promotions using customised hashtags or even getting celebrities involved for live Q&A sessions.

If you’re a retailer, why wait to be at the tail-end of the social retail trend? At Point and Stare, we can help you come up with bold, inventive and impactful ways to implement our live social media feeds in your shop that will blow your customers away and make your shop the place to be on the High Street so get in touch today.

 
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