Value for money is absolutely key to influencing customer spend. This has never been more imperative than in the current downturn in consumer confidence, which sees footfall levels rebounding to pre-covid numbers, but spending on the decline as the cost of living continues to skyrocket. While it is well established that customer retention is bolstered by attractive deals and discounts on a range of products which are on par with online offerings, brands will need to find new ways to stand out in order to steer the path to purchase. With over 60% of consumers using their mobile devices when out shopping in a physical store, it is clear that shopping malls have an invaluable opportunity at their fingertips to take advantage of customer habits. At Inkspotwifi, we offer a number of marketing solutions which enable retailers and landlords to bridge their online offering with the physical shopping experience, and to integrate vital digital elements to support and strengthen the impact of their regeneration projects.
In spite of the huge popularity of online shopping, brick-and-mortar retail environments still hold a great level of significance in the post-pandemic landscape as spaces for brands to capture consumer interest and spend. Shopping as a leisure activity has undeniably evolved, with malls today aiming to go further than simply achieving the hard sell. Rather, retailers are increasingly evolving their spaces to create experiences that cannot be replicated online – adding a level of interaction and engagement in order to connect more to visitors, many of whom are also looking for those key ‘instagrammable’ moments throughout their trip.
Pop-up retail has been one of the most powerful of these strategies for creating a sense of newness and excitement to the physical shopping experience. Be it fashion or food; makeup or music – pop-ups typically have the ability to be more innovative and experimental than traditional retailers, particularly in regard to store aesthetics and shareable photo opportunities. We are also seeing a number of online retailers being introduced as concessions within traditional high-street stores in a further bid to attract younger audiences who predominantly shop online, such as the ethical online fashion brand Nobody’s Child into Marks & Spencer stores, and cult skincare brand The Ordinary into Boots Pharmacy. However, the success of these ventures undoubtedly depends in part on customer awareness, which in turn relies on advertising and promotion on-site. Highly engaging messages featuring contextual content and target audiences in close proximity to the point of purchase has unparalleled potential to inform and influence spending behaviour. By adopting and incorporating digital out-of-home advertising formats as part of an omnichannel marketing strategy, retailers have the opportunity to yield significant results in terms of customer loyalty and retention.
Our latest business venture in partnership with Smart Outdoor has been to introduce a rapidly expanding network of small-format ‘D4’ digital screens into retail environments across the UK, which are ideal for internal retailer promotion opportunities. Our state-of-the-art digital panels are perfect for positioning at entrances and exits, bathroom facilities, seating areas and other high-traffic spaces – and are strategically located to display brand messaging, promotions and offers at multiple key points throughout the customer journey. We have created unmissable opportunities for retailers to capture attention and influence customer spending action during their visit and beyond, with the ability to display dynamic, vibrant and ultra-contextual visual content. With QR code integration, our screens unlock vast potential for internal retailers to bolster their call-to-action, and encourage direct engagement with shoppers in proximity to brand messaging.
Furthermore, our core business offering of free public WiFi further reinforces the effectiveness of retailer marketing campaigns, and is an essential integration for landlords looking to respond to new trends in visitor expectations. Digital agility within a physical retail environment has come to be considered a basic fundamental service – not just for hyper-connected Gen Z and Millennial shoppers, but for the vast majority of visitors who require internet connection throughout their shopping trip to check prices, redeem discount codes, open loyalty apps, pay for parking, or simply access information – all without having to dip into their own personal data. A free public WiFi service with Inkspotwifi provides landlords and retailers with so much more than simply enabling their visitors to access the internet. Not only does the service encourage guests to stay for longer and engage more fully with their surroundings, our innovative WiFi login portal provides landlords with the opportunity to monetise their network via 3rd party advertising; and internal retailers the chance to push their brand messaging to visitors as they connect to the internet. With 3 fully customisable slides available to host retailer branding AdCard enables our clients to boost interest and uptake in their call to action while offering customers a more compelling shopping experience.
Each WiFi login also presents an opportunity for landlords to learn more from their audiences, which in turn empowers decision makers to tailor their premises, tenants and marketing strategies directly to their audience. The AdCard registration and connection page features an invaluable data capture device, enabling clients to collect names, email addresses and postcodes, as well as hugely insightful demographic and behavioural statistics – ranging from gender, age, dwell times, time of visit and whether they are a first-time or returning visitor. Our user-friendly monthly analytics report equips our clients with the tools they need to recognise and gauge with visitor trends which are essential to optimising the on-site shopping experience.
By combining WiFi portal advertising, digital screen advertising, and a free WiFi service; landlords and tenants can greatly benefit from new and effective ways of capturing customer attention, as they have numerous platforms through which they can unlock and engage with retailer promotions and brand messaging throughout their shopping trip. With the flexibility our services offer – from refreshing content to measuring the results of campaigns – we offer retailers the chance to make the most out of their audiences, and generate genuine customer engagement and loyalty, even in the most challenging of times.
For more information about our digital solutions, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us!
📞 0131 556 4034
📧 [email protected]
www.inkspotwifi.co.uk/
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