Ramadan 2021: Mobile Marketing Strategies to Accelerate Footfall

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It’s been a year since retailers were forced to close their brick and mortar establishments due to the pandemic. Retailers today need to figure out  ways to incorporate mobile marketing strategies in their promotional campaigns to survive. A proactive approach will allow retailers to cater to a broader audience, as well as give shoppers’ a wide  array of products  to purchase online through mobile apps. This holds true especially as the festive season approaches. Although vaccines are available, precautionary measures to stop the spread of Covid-19 are still in place across the globe. 

In 2019, retail e-commerce sales worldwide amounted to US $3.53 trillion, and e-retail revenues are projected to grow to US $6.54 trillion by 2022. Online shopping is one of the most popular online activities worldwide. 

As the holy month of Ramadan arrives, here are few strategies to accelerate footfall in your physical store. More footfall can happen only if businesses identify their mobile marketing goals, create content, and incorporate the right tools and features.

1. Buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS)

Retailers today are adopting the BOPIS model to meet customer expectations. Buy Online, Pick up In-store is one of the perfect ways for retailers to drive in-store foot traffic and complete their offline and online experience. As we all know, customers don’t like to pay for shipping, so the first thing you can implement is to ease their pain by offering BOPIS.

This model is at times called click-and-collect – a term that came into vogue during the COVID-19 pandemic. A Digital Commerce 360 survey says that ‘121 out of 500 retailers as of August 2020 now offer curbside pickup. This is up by 536 per cent from 2019-end when only 19 retailers offered the service.’ Also, when coupled with the trend of curbside pickup, BOPIS provides a safer way to shop by minimising the time customers spent in-store.

You can drive up footfall by allowing customers to reserve the product online and collect it in-store. This option works perfectly for new product releases. For instance, whenever Apple launches its products; they are sold out even before customers begin assembling outside the physical stores.

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2. Provide local inventory availability information

It’s a myth that consumers – who search and surf for products online, only visit online marketplaces to complete their purchases. That’s not true at all. Three out of four consumers are likely to visit brick and mortar stores if they find local information in search results impactful and helpful. 

With so much insight, it’s time for marketers  to give customers what they are looking for.

The first thing you as a marketer should make sure is, ensuring your store locator is up and running. Customers should be able to easily find a local store. Marketers or business owners should provide them with all the information, like contact details, email address and the location, following which data related to
locally available inventory must be uploaded for each item in your store.

Informing customers about the stock at your local store is a great way to increase footfall for undecided customers. For instance, Ikea is one of the largest retailers that have successfully utilised local inventory information on their website. This practice offers customers or website visitors the chance to choose a local store and see any product in that specific store without not having to actually visit the store. 

3. Buy in-store and walk out hands-free.

This is relatively a new approach to retail marketing and comes as a result of consumer behaviour change. It serves as an excellent way to respond to consumer’ showrooming.’

What is showrooming? How and why does it matter?

Showrooming is the practice of examining merchandise in a traditional brick and mortar retail store or another offline setting and then buying it online, maybe with a lower price or vice versa. It has become a common way of shopping for many deal hunters – who love comparing prices or try products before purchasing.

What if customers come to your brick and mortar store, get all information, touch and feel the product and ultimately order online? Business owners can look at this situation from a different perspective. What if your customers try products in your store and then have them delivered straight to their preferred address? This is one of the new approaches to retail.  

4. In-store offers and redeemable mobile promotions

Did you know mobile users spend more than 4 hours a day on their mobile? Yes, they do. Nowadays, consumers rely more on their mobile device to research even the smallest of things before deciding to purchase. Also, consumers are more susceptible to mobile communication than, for instance, email. According to Research SMS, open rates are as high as 98 per cent, compared to just 20 per cent of all emails. On average, it takes 90 seconds for someone to respond to a text and 90 minutes to respond to an email. This proves that SMS marketing is still alive and thriving. It would be best if you considered implementing mobile marketing solutions.

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5. Localise your digital ads

Digital advertising is one of the most significant parts of your marketing budget, and you should make sure you utilise it correctly and with maximised ROI. On average, consumer search and purchase via multiple channels, almost 40 per cent of the time, and most of these shoppers go to search engines to start their search. It is essential to target and convert these consumers at the early consideration stage. 

But how? Through local digital ads. Set your Google Ads account; if you already have active search ads, go ahead and set up the location – which then will allow you to show locally searched product ads with your address, a map to your location and the distance to your store. Also, you can run local inventory ads, which will keep you  updated with stock availability.