Mention eCommerce to your colleagues and you will see the fear in their eyes.
Despite online grocery being around for decades, it’s not something we all feel confident about.
As eCommerce continues to grow, building our understanding becomes unavoidable. IGD have predicted the online channel will grow to 11.2% of total groceries by 2027.
Where is the best place to start?
eCommerce isn't that different to the offline world. I always recommend stepping into the shoes of a shopper and the best way to do that is with a store visit.
Online store visits can help you understand the friction points along the shopper’s online journey. You can gain invaluable insights to work with retailers and overcome barriers to purchase, driving both online and offline sales.
(Remember, 50% of Brits combine online and offline channels when shopping for groceries.)
You load up Tesco.com ready for your store visit, but what are you actually looking for?
Here are my top 5 tips to get you started, to help you get the most out of your online store visit:
1. Have a specific shopper in mind 💭
You will get the most out of this exercise by thinking of a particular shopper persona or shopper mission.
It could be Susan, a 34-year-old busy mum who has just realised she has run out of milk and bread but doesn’t have time to go to the shop, or Barbara a 61-year-old retiree who is doing her regular online shop for both her and her husband.
While Susan and Barbara are both shopping online, what they buy and how they shop will be different because of their different life stages and shopping missions.
2. Use different devices 🤳
Shoppers use a combination of devices when doing their online shop, they might do most of their main grocery shop on a laptop and later add a few extra bits on their mobile.
The mission they are on will likely dictate the device they are using.
The retailer website will look different across devices, and between mobile app and mobile web browsers.
Exploring with different devices and platforms can highlight unique insights, so try not to stick to your work laptop every time you do an online store visit.
3. Have a shopping list (and not just for products in your category) 📋
I don’t normally take a list to store with me, but it’s good practice to make sure Susan or Barbara have a list of 3-5 items when you’re completing their mission online.
This encourages us to navigate in the most natural way and it means we move around the site to gain insights into what other categories and brands are doing well.
4. Create time for a weekly online store visit 🗓️
Find a time every week to visit an online retailer.
Doing this regularly will improve your understanding of eCommerce in your category and beyond.
It will also highlight any improvements you can put in place to maximise your online sales.
5. Share learnings with your team and your customers 💡
An online store visit can be a great exercise to do as part of a team event or even during a customer engagement session.
It’s also worth creating a space for your team to share learnings and keep screen grabs so you can track changes over time.
Make sure you’re sharing everything with the right people so they can implement the improvements you spot along the way.
Your visibility and presence online are a key piece of the puzzle to growing your sales (online and in store).
So why not pop a recurring meeting in your diary to check out an online retailer?
Trying to upskill your team in all things Cat Man?
Check out our training courses or get in touch for a chat about how we can help.
Comments