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The Best of Both Worlds: What Department Stores Can Learn from Ecommerce

See which online retail tips and tricks department stores can benefit from.

05/05/2022
5 minutes

The Customer Experience Is a Top Priority

Online shops and department stores share a common goal: Offering customers an outstanding shopping experience. Especially online, it’s crucial that customers can quickly and easily find the information they need. The checkout should also be simple, secure, and personalised.

How can you implement this personalised shopping experience in a department store? Just like in ecommerce, the in-store shopping experience needs to be simple, personal, and secure. Unzer supports merchants in creating the department store experience of the future.

For example, mobile POS systems can make long queues a thing of the past. They enable customers to quickly pay for products anywhere in the store. With insights into buying behaviour, connection between online and offline sales, and a wide range of payment methods, Unzer offers everything department stores need to optimise the payment process.

Understanding Customers with Data on Buying Behaviour

To optimise the customer experience, online shops use data from online analytics tools. Payment service providers can help here too. They can offer key insights into customers’ preferences and suggest improvements to the current purchase process.

For example, Unzer Insights provides valuable information about customers’ buying behaviour. Dashboards give you a real-time overview of transactions, payment method usage, and sales channels so you can quickly respond to new developments and opportunities. Define the KPIs that are most important for your business to get the most out of your data. These insights create a foundation for establishing attractive loyalty programs and other benefits that department stores can use to retain customers.

Uniting Online and Offline Sales

Ecommerce is essential for department stores today. Many department stores benefit from offering at least a part of their product range online.

The key is to ensure that you offer customers a consistent experience across all touchpoints. This allows you to live up to the high customer expectations. Unzer can support you with checkout solutions tailored to your needs both online and in-store. These include payment methods such as credit cards, instalment payment, pay by invoice, and white label solutions that guarantee a smooth checkout process. With a payment provider for both worlds, you benefit from meaningful insights into your customers’ buying behaviour, which creates promising business opportunities.

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A Wide Range of Payment Methods

Both online and offline, the checkout is a particularly important moment in the customer journey. Customers expect to be able to pay by card and use other contactless options in store. But to offer an even more positive experience, you should exceed these expectations by offering popular online payment methods that are rarely seen in physical stores. Two examples of this are pay by invoice and pay in instalments, which Unzer can process in seconds at the point of sale.

Unzer also offers local payment methods such as Alipay and WeChat Pay for international customers. Alipay is one of the most popular payment methods in China and essential for businesses who sell to Chinese customers. These payment methods also play an important role in German department stores as tourists from China appreciate the option to pay with Alipay or WeChat Pay in Europe.

Wow your customers online and in-store with a simple, personalised shopping experience that converts – we can help you.

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