What to Consider Using ROPO for Your Business in 2019?

Pause enough to ask the all-important question: does my business use ROPO?

Often ROPO has led to remarkable business improvement. Renowned merchants have given it a license. To increase the marketing and sales of your business, use both online and offline stores.

There are some things you must consider when using ROPO in your industry. In this article, we will expose features to put in place in your physical store and the techniques to use with ROPO.

ROPO Meaning

ROPO means, ‘research online, purchase offline.

For example, if you want to buy a laptop, you begin by checking the prices and reviews on the Internet. Once you get the laptop that best suits you, you proceed to buy it in a physical store.

That is the heart of ROPO.

ROPO has been trending in industries such as finance, healthcare, tourism, and business.

In 2015, research on brick-and-mortar commerce, PWS, indicated that 85% of the customers prefer buying from a physical store to an online store.

Here are some reasons cited; suitability of the product, sense of touch and certainty of the product. In short, you get what you can see.

Below are tips to help you better your online customer-business interaction.

Tips to Improve Customer Experience Online

Customer experience is a paramount thing which determines success or failure of any business. It’s how customers interact with your products or company.

Every single interaction with your clients determines whether they will trade with you in the future or not. If the communication is not up-to-date the clients can always look for a better option to meet their needs. Provide an outstanding online customer experience to surpass your competitors.

Here is what you should consider.

Customers’ Reliance on Online Product Review

According to Bizrate Insights, most customers look at product reviews before making a purchase. It was indicated that 40.8% of the respondents said that they did so often. Online product review plays an integral role in the shopping process.

Thus it’s right to conclude that online review influences customers’ disposition on physical shops. Ensure that your clients can review your products after purchase. This review will help you garner more customers to your business.

Use platforms like Trustpilot, Bazaarvoice, and Yotpo to include the reviews to your online store.

Create a Responsive Mobile App

A responsive mobile app necessitates customer experience. Online customer experience can either lead to massive customer exodus or increased customer loyalty.

Consider creating such an app which will help you to keep in touch with your clients when using ROPO. The mobile app responds well to different browsers.

Just in a few scrolls, your customers will have an opportunity to see your products. It’s easy to use since it comes with extensive documentation to provide friendly customer support. While your blog attracts new customers, the app helps to maintain your regular clients.

Use Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality has been in existence for a couple of years. It will help your customers to extract the object and put it in a physical environment. It gives a clear mental picture of how the object will appear on the new site.

With cars, for example, AR enables you to put the vehicle in the driveway. Once in the entrance, one can open the doors, walk around and examine the inside of the car.

Now, AR in retail gains momentum and the number of apps with AR are continually growing. One of the companies that has used this technology successfully was IKEA. Their IKEA Place ARKit app helps to find the perfect fit of the furniture pieces in the room.

Some expert think tanks have heeded that by 2020, AR will reach a wide-spread market use. It has evolved from being an innovative technology to the problem-solving app.

In-Depth Data Analysis

You need in-depth information analysis of your business to improve your customer interaction.

Using filtering, for instance, you can choose what you need to track. You can target one job function or a group. You also can predict the customers’ behavior and plan your marketing campaign targeting the right customers.

You can also use location attendance report to show trends in your business. Examines the fluctuating prices in the course of the days of the week, fault the ones you are unhappy with and optimize on the ones you find profitable. Determine what causes the fluctuation in sales and deal with it.

Enhance Your Offline Marketing Techniques

In as much as ROPO is the order of the day, you don’t need to abandon your offline marketing techniques.

In 2012, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in CBS interview admitted for a need of a physical store. Three years later Amazon opened the first physical store in West Lafayette.

Amazon started with an online store before it extended to an offline store. You would not want to underrate such a decision. Here are a few reasons why offline marketing techniques are essential.

The Touch-And-Feel Factor

It is good to be everywhere that your clients want you to be. Some customers would like to touch and feel the product before they can buy.

There has to be an offline store to allow customers to interact with the products at a personal level. Some customers need to interact with you before they can buy from you.

Omnichannel Experience

ROPO uses the omnichannel experience to link clients to both online and offline stores. You can’t run away from this fact. Some customers engage with the company using desktop or smartphones.

You should maintain the interaction of these channels to better marketing of your brands. Try to offer personalized experiences across all channels. Ensure that there is no gap created between offline and online stores. Make sure that all your staff is well versed with both stores.

POS systems will help you to control your inventory and seamlessly sell across all channels. For the further understanding of what are the capabilities of POS systems, read our related article.

Track Customer Behavior through Loyalty Cards

Many businesses focus on acquiring new clients to the extent of not focusing on the old ones. To keep your business on track, you need to interact with all your customers. Design a loyalty card or a reward program to track their behavior and movement.

You need to extend your love to your clients by giving discounts and incentives. This practice will remind them of your brands and business. If they turn up again persuade them to sign a loyalty program for rewards and incentives.

The great example is at the Sephora store. They have a loyalty program for those who shop online as well as a card with accumulation discount that operates offline when you make a purchase. Here how the loyalty program looks on their website:

Customers who get rewards for buying, keep purchasing from your business.

Conclude Customer Research with Price Adaption

Make a research of your customers’ behavior as well as competitors price range before you can tag a price to the new product. Try to change the existing products to suit different customer needs.

Companies that export products or those introducing new products use price adaptation. The adaptation is based on the research of the customers’ needs. When you contrast the features that the customers want and the specifications of your products you will be able to determine the price.